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STATE OF VERMONT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
103 SOUTH MAIN STREET
WATERBURY, VERMONT 05671-2101
www.dps.state.vt.us

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STATE OF VERMONT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
VERMONT STATE POLICE

PRESS RELEASE

AMBER Alert timeline and process for the AMBER Alert issued on September 5, 2015
AMBER Alert Coordinator: Lt. Kevin Lane

Summary:
On September 5th, 2015 the Vermont AMBER Alert system was activated for the
third time in its history for a child abduction that took place in Fayston, Vermont.
The Vermont State Police conducted an after action review of the AMBER Alert and
provides the following information. This information includes a timeline of events
leading up to the AMBER Alert, the dissemination of the AMBER Alert message and
recommendations for improving the AMBER Alert system.

AMBER Alert Timeline:

September 4, 2015:
1728 Vermont Department of Children and Families (DCF) reports the incident to
the Vermont State Police (VSP). VSP initiates an investigation.
1812 Vermont Superior Court Judge issues court order changing temporary
custody from the childs biological grandmother Dawn Hutchinson to DCF.
1900 VSP trooper speaks with Hutchinson on the phone and orders Hutchinson to
return the child to authorities. She refuses to comply.

More VSP and local law enforcement assets become involved with the investigation.
Law enforcement begins to search for the vehicle and child. Many investigative
steps are taken to determine the location of the child.
A series of conference calls take place to discuss the investigation. Participants
include: VSP state duty officer, northern watch commander, AMBER Alert
coordinator, uniform case officers, BCI detectives, DCF investigators, Vermont
Intelligence Center (VIC), VSP public information officer (PIO) and the on-call watch
officer for DEMHS.
September 5, 2015:
0047 A conference call takes place between the Commissioner of Public Safety,
VSP Executive Staff, investigators, and the AMBER Alert coordinator. The call results
in a decision that case facts meet criteria to warrant the issuance of an AMBER
Alert. AMBER Alert process is initiated.
0053 Missing person poster is posted on VT Missing Person Facebook page.
0054 Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS)
activates VT Alert (e-mail/text/fax) to VT Alert subscribers. This triggers the
Emergency Alert System (EAS) and the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) through
FEMA.
0058 Rockingham PSAP completes entry of AMBER Alert information into AMBER
Alert program.
0112 Press release issued.
0117 VT AMBER Alert coordinator contacts New York State Police as a result of
information obtained indicating that the suspect vehicle may be headed to New
York. VT AMBER Alert coordinator requests activation of a NY AMBER Alert.
0123 VT AMBER Alert coordinator recognizes AMBER Alert message was not
received properly due to message being held by electronic approval process.
Rockingham PSAP repeats AMBER Alert procedure successfully.
0138 New York activates their AMBER Alert system.
0149 VT AMBER Alert email is activated.
0205 Information posted on VSP Facebook page.
0205 As a result of the NY AMBER Alert, the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children (NCMEC) activates second WEA (Wireless Emergency Alert).
0220 VTrans confirms boards have AMBER Alert message.
0236 VSP confirms vehicle was stopped in New York at 0218 hours by the New
York State Police. The child is located unharmed and the suspects are taken into
custody.
0244 E-mail sent out to cancel AMBER Alert.
0250 VTrans clears all message boards.
0256 New York cancels their AMBER Alert.

0314 Press release issued on cancellation.

0329 AMBER Alert cancelled on VSP Facebook.

Dissemination of Messages:
There are multiple messages that the Vermont AMBER Alert system sends out. Not
all messages are the exact same and not all go out at the same time. There is
redundancy built into the system so some people may receive the alert more than
once or in different formats. There are technical limitations on some of the
displayed messages that limit how many characters may be used or the content in
the message. AMBER Alert messages are sent out in a number of different ways in
an attempt to flood the target area with the AMBER Alert information. Below is a list
of how a Vermont AMBER Alert is distributed:

Emails message sent to all vermont.gov emails and separate DPS

maintained e-mail listserv.
Vermont Lottery message is printed on tickets and on display
monitors.
Vermont Agency of Transportation message is displayed on highway
message boards.
VSP PIO Press release and posts on VSP Facebook page.
Vermont Intelligence Center (VIC) message is emailed to all Vermont
law enforcement and posted on Vermont Missing Person Facebook
page.
VT Alert message goes out to VT Alert subscribers at their choice, in
an email and/or text and/or fax. VT Alerts sent out 6,349 emails, 118
faxes and 3,306 text messages to subscribers during this AMBER Alert.
VT Alert message is sent to the Emergency Alert System
(radio/TV/cable) which is managed by FEMA. In this case VT Alert sent
a message to FEMA, but we discovered that it was not distributed back
to Vermont to be aired. We are investigating why this did not work.
VT Alert message sent to the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system
(cellphone alerts) however the message received by end users was not
comprehensive. We are still investigating why this happened with
FEMA, who administers the WEA system.
National Center Missing Exploited Children (NCMEC) sent out a
second WEA through FEMA (cellphone alert with more detailed
information).

In this case, we also worked with New York State Police and asked them to issue
their AMBER Alert system. The NY AMBER Alert system worked exactly as it should
have. As a result, a motorist in New York read the alert on a highway sign, observed
the vehicle and notified the New York State Police. The New York State Police was
also aware of the AMBER Alert and troopers were able to catch up to the vehicle,
stop it, safely recover the child and took the two suspects into custody. We
appreciate the assistance and cooperation of the New York State Police which was
critical in bringing this incident to a safe, successful conclusion.

Recommendations:
The Vermont State Police and our partners have already taken steps to implement
the following changes to the VT AMBER Alert system to ensure that information is
conveyed to the public in an efficient and complete manner:

The Vermont State Police will now use the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to issues all Wireless Emergency Alerts
(WEA) to cell phones. NCMEC works with FEMA in many states across
the country to coordinate the release of information through the WEA
and has more experience and expertise in this area.
In an effort to coordinate and streamline all information, the Vermont
Intelligence Center (VIC) in Williston will now be the primary point of
contact for entry and management of AMBER Alerts in Vermont.
The primary platform for launching an AMBER Alert will transition to VT
Alerts instead of the e-mail system. VT Alerts will eventually make
notifications to partner agencies such as the Vermont Lottery and the
Vermont Agency of Transportation.
Create an early warning alert system for AMBER Alert partners in
Vermont. This will send an early alert to everyone involved in the
AMBER Alert process, allowing them to begin preparing and
coordinating efforts.
Establish a conference call system to ensure coordination between
agencies during the review process.
The Vermont Intelligence Center (VIC) will now provide additional
oversight and review of the process with continued testing of the
system.
Establish an after action review committee to assess the outcome of
every AMBER Alert issued, whether is a live event or a test.

Further improvements are likely as we continue to work with FEMA to evaluate

performance issues experienced with the EAS and the initial WEA message.
The next AMBER Alert test is scheduled for October 28, 2015.
We encourage all Vermonters who want to stay informed with AMBER Alerts,
weather alerts, traffic alerts and public health alerts in their geographic area, to sign
up for VT-Alert. To learn more and to sign up, go to www.vtalert.gov .

Below is reference material that describes the criteria for issuing an AMBER Alert:

For a Vermont Amber Child Abduction Alert to be activated, the following criteria must be met.
Check off each criteria when it is verified.
The child must be 17 years of age or under.
A law enforcement agency believes the child has been abducted and is in
imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death, either at the hands of another or
due to a proven mental or physical disability.
The initiating law enforcement agency will provide resources or arrange for
incoming calls/information without interruption.
There is enough descriptive information for law enforcement to believe an Amber
Alert will help locate the child.
AMBER Alert may be activated only by law enforcement agencies. AMBER Alert is intended
only for the most serious, time-critical child abduction cases. The following situations meet
AMBER Alert criteria:
The child is the age of 17 or under
A child is kidnapped off the street
A child is kidnapped from home
A vehicle is stolen or carjacked and a child was left inside the vehicle
A child is reported missing, there is evidence of foul play, and the police believe the child
was kidnapped
The following situations do not meet AMBER Alert criteria:
Missing children who have run away from home
Missing children involved in child custody disputes
Police searches for criminals