Dona Ana Sheriff’s Office explains why Amber Alert was issued 5 hours after boy was taken

Residents in Southern New Mexico are questioning the urgency of amber alerts after a father allegedly took his 2-year-old son by force Monday evening.

23-year-old Sergio Jacquez is facing numerous charges after he allegedly snatched Ethan away from his maternal grandparents, then allegedly setting their home on fire and stealing the couple’s pickup.

The incident prompted a nine hour search for the boy. Ethan was reported missing at around 2 p.m. Monday but it wasn’t until 7 p.m. that the public was notified through an Amber Alert. During those five hours, no one knew to be on the lookout for the boy or the truck he was allegedly riding in.

“He set the house on fire he took off in a white Ford F-150,” said a neighbor in 911 recording obtained by ABC-7 Wednesday. “He grabbed the son and lit the house on fire and took off in a white truck.”

Neighbors panicked after witnessing Ethan being snatched from his grandparents home as it went up in flames. The home is a total loss, but Baby Ethan was found safe with his paternal grandparents.

“The boy was in Anthony with Jacquez’s mother. When our deputies went to pick up the boy, we were told he’d been there for several hours,” said Kelly Jameson, a spokeswoman with the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office.

Jameson said Wednesday there’s a long list of things they need to do before an alert can be sent out.

First, authorities must determine if the child is in danger and whether the parent has a right to the child. Then, they make contact with the other parent to get the child’s date of birth, photos, and check if the child’s entered into the national crime information center.

“If we were to send out an amber alert of every missing child without fulfilling those requirements, there would be several alerts. We would become desensitized to the mission of the amber alert,” Jameson said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean we can’t do it as quickly as possible. For parents watching this story, if it is our child we want that alert sent out minutes, if not seconds, after the police report is made”

Jameson added the sheriff’s office has to rely on New Mexico State Police to send out the alert and there happened to be a glitch in the system, which made the process even longer.

She also explained Jacquez had legal custody of the child and the reason an Amber Alert was issued was the violent manner in which he took the boy.