Northern California authorities deactivated an Amber Alert early Thursday after a 5-year-old boy, who was believed to have been abducted from Calaveras County, was found with his father.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) issued the alert shortly before 11 p.m. on Wednesday following a report from the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office. The child was last seen around 8:25 p.m. near Wallace, a rural community south of Camanche Reservoir and about 40 miles southeast of Sacramento. According to officials, the boy was believed to have been taken by his 29-year-old father.
The Amber Alert appeared on freeway message boards across Northern California, including in the Bay Area, and remained active for about three hours before CHP deactivated it just before 2:30 a.m. Thursday.
Authorities confirmed that both the child and his father had been “located” but did not provide details regarding their location or condition. It is not clear whether any arrests were made. The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said it would provide further updates later Thursday morning.
Amber Alerts are designed to quickly inform the public about suspected child abductions and other at-risk missing children. The system — which stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response — originated after the 1996 abduction and murder of Amber Hagerman in Texas and was adopted in California in 2002 after the killing of Samantha Runnion.
The CHP manages California’s statewide alert system, which uses cellphone notifications, freeway signs, and broadcast media to distribute information rapidly to the public. Authorities report that this program has contributed to recovering hundreds of children throughout the state.
