Missing Kid Found!, But Mass Text Message Is Still A Little Weird

by | Feb 19, 2014 | COMMUNITY

Update: Missing child found! WTVR has details:

UPDATE: ”The Virginia AMBER Alert was cancelled as of 12:45 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 19). A Virginia State Police Trooper spotted the suspect vehicle while on patrol in Accomack County. Amiyah M. Dallas, 5, was safely recovered. The aunt, Olivia N. Dallas, was taken into custody without incident,” according to State Police. “On behalf of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, we appreciate the media’s immediate attention to this AMBER Alert and assisting with coverage.”

Original Post —

2 things about this.

Update: Missing child found! WTVR has details:

UPDATE: ”The Virginia AMBER Alert was cancelled as of 12:45 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 19). A Virginia State Police Trooper spotted the suspect vehicle while on patrol in Accomack County. Amiyah M. Dallas, 5, was safely recovered. The aunt, Olivia N. Dallas, was taken into custody without incident,” according to State Police. “On behalf of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, we appreciate the media’s immediate attention to this AMBER Alert and assisting with coverage.”

Original Post —

2 things about this.

1 – there’s a missing child – Amiyah Monet Dallas (Photo credit: Orange County Sheriff’s Office). If you’ve got any info, call (540) 672-1200 or State Police at #77 immediately.

2 – Looks like the Amber Alert System is hardwired into iPhones.

Here’s details from Business Insider:

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA’s), are pumped automatically to iPhone 4, 4S, and 5 models. They can include anything from flash flood warnings to information on wanted vehicles. Amber Alerts are used to pass along information on missing persons. Both types of alerts are location based, so they’ll always be relevant to your current area.

I guess this is a good thing – we of course wish the best for missing child and her family – but it’s a little scary/NSA-tastic that the government has that kind of phone access, let alone locationally based phone access.

One reader sent us a note shortly after they received the text – “It was weird driving and seeing everyone look at their phones at once.”

Did folks with Androids or Windows phones get the same alert? Let us know in the comments.

Brad Kutner

Brad Kutner

Brad Kutner is the former editor of GayRVA and RVAMag from 2013 - 2017. He’s now the Richmond Bureau Chief for Radio IQ, a state-wide NPR outlet based in Roanoke. You can reach him at BradKutnerNPR@gmail.com




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