KOTA Territory NewsPolice work to prioritize missing person reports

Police work to prioritize missing person reports

Katy Urban

"Every time a car would go by I would be up, thinking she was coming home," Christie Tibbitts said. "I couldn't sleep I was so worried."

Tibbitts knows first–hand how agonizing it is to have a missing family member. Her 16-year-old daughter ran–away this past September.

"I thought she would come home in a couple of days, you know even if I had reported her as a runaway I thought she would come," she said. 

Cases like this are a common scenario for Pennington County detectives.  Each year, runaways and other missing people occupy a great deal of an investigator's time.  That's why prioritizing is a necessity.

"We have to show that there are contributing factors besides just the fact that they're gone, to initiate or step–up the investigation," Detective Wanye Keefe said. 

Cases that take precedence often involve people who have suicidal tendencies, are mentally disabled, or disappear in extreme weather conditions.  But, any situation that involves a child tops their list.

"Federal and state law is very clear on juveniles, they are immediately entered into the National Crime Information Center computer as a missing person," Keefe said. "They don't have to have a risk factor just simply based on their age they are considered at risk."

Police say all missing person reports are investigated, but with the high number of reports each year, It's unrealistic to think all of them get the same amount of attention.

"It's not against the law, as an adult, to take off and leave your surroundings," Keefe said. 

It is if you are a juvenile, that's why after five weeks, police bumped up their investigation, and found Tibbitts' daughter.

"He told me that they could trace her through using the computer," Tibbitts said. 

Within a couple of days, Detective Wayne Keefe caught up with the missing teen, allowing her mother to sleep much better at night.

Amber Alerts and Endangered Persons Advisories also assist police in their search.  A state team called CART, Child Abduction Response Team, is also always ready to assist in child abductions.