Originally Posted by
peacegirl
Question: Why would the authorities be at Mackenzie's car as quickly as they got there? I thought a missing person her age wasn't missing until 24hrs gone.
Hi Gang!
I just wanted to clarify something on this question, since it hadn't been addressed (this is from thread #1)... a little OT, but... very important IMO...
Any minor, even one who is 17, can be reported as missing immediately upon any concern that s/he is not where they are supposed to be. The "24-hr rule" does not apply to minors. (Actually, it doesn't apply to adults either if there is any suspicion of foul play or possible endangerment- like, a person who mysteriously leaves kids unattended, may have medical issues, or who has taken out a restraining order against someone and then disappears)
Now, that doesn't mean that LE will send out an all-points bulletin for a 17 yr-old who misses curfew or anything... but,
for any parent whose hinky-meter is going off, please, please, don't wait 24 hours to call LE. I have been told by a number of LE friends and co-workers that, in their opinion, the best case scenario is to have a call, look into it, and find out that the kid is ok. They would rather know right away, assess the situation and decide what to... of course they want us civilians to do our due diligence first- call the friends or what have you... Common sense, here.
Anyway, sorry for the lengthy post, but I wanted to get the word out there... Thanks for listening!
ETA- for anyone who is interested- the "24 hr" thing apparently started from just a SOP, "let's wait 24 hrs and see if they come home"- and, for an adult, that's probably pretty reasonable-- I mean, we all had those times in our youth where we went somewhere to escape, or slept over at a friends house to not drive home irresponsibly, IYKWIM. But, in the case of kids, it never should have been SOP-- although I would guess some LEA's did...