It’s routine for police agencies to issue advisories for missing persons.
Elevating something routine to an emergency is a whole other matter.
Questions of this sort have been raised over the case of a 13-year-old Edmonton girl reported missing after she didn’t make it to school on June 24.
Police in Alberta’s capital city shared this information with the public on June 27.
The girl’s family and friends put up billboards beyond Edmonton, including one in Calgary, on June 30.
More than a week after the girl went missing, she was found not far from Portland, Ore., on July 2.
Noah Madrano, 40, was arrested and has since been charged with child luring. Additional criminal charges are possible.
It was a huge relief to learn the teen was found alive.
But part of the investigation into her disappearance must also include a review of how it was possible for the situation to escalate to the point of becoming a cross-border missing person’s case at all.
