Why was an Amber Alert just released for a Tennessee toddler missing for two months?
An Amber Alert has been issued for a toddler who has been missing for two months, officials say.
Evelyn Boswell disappeared from Sullivan County, Tennessee, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said Wednesday. The area is on the Virginia border and roughly 100 miles northeast of Knoxville.
A search is underway for Evelyn, who has “blonde hair and blue eyes,” according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The 15-month-old girl was “last seen wearing a pink tracksuit, pink shoes, and a pink bow,” officials say.
Investigators on Friday said people in a 2007 BMW may know where the toddler is. The vehicle is a 2007 model with damage to the front, according to state officials.
“Our main focus is getting Evelyn back, and the only information that I believe that could help us in maybe getting some more information is finding this gray BMW,” Jeff Cassidy, sheriff of Sullivan County, said Friday in a news conference.
He said the girl may have been last seen on Dec. 10 or Dec. 11, according to footage WJHL and other news outlets streamed.
State investigators earlier this week said the girl hadn’t been seen since Dec. 26, according to a Facebook post. But her disappearance was just reported this week, according to the department.
“We want to know why the child was not reported missing earlier,” Capt. Andy Seabolt of the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office told WCYB in a story published Wednesday.
Deputies started “investigating Evelyn’s case on Tuesday after the Department of Children’s Services alerted them to a missing child,” Seabolt told WKRN.
At first, the case didn’t meet the standards for an Amber Alert, the station reported.
In Tennessee, that type of alert is issued “for the most serious of missing children cases, in which law enforcement believes that a child is in imminent danger,” according to investigators.
Before issuing an Amber Alert, state officials say they must have a “description of the child, the abductor, or vehicle,” among other criteria.
Evelyn’s parents are “involved” in the investigation into her disappearance, but deputies haven’t nailed down the girl’s location, multiple news outlets report.
“It could be anywhere from what we know,” Seabolt told WCYB. “We’re conducting the investigation, and obviously we’ve been talking to as many people as we’ve come in contact with that knew about the child.”
Officials encourage anyone who spots Evelyn or the BMW to call Sullivan County deputies at 423-279-7330 or state investigators at 800-824-3463.
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Why was an Amber Alert just released for a Tennessee toddler missing for two months?."
