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Friday, August 05, 2005

Mexican Authorities Urged To Sign Up for Web-Based Amber Alerts

By Amanda Keim/
Associated Press
      PHOENIX, Ariz. — The sheriff in Arizona's most populous county and the Mexican Consulate are hoping to stop kidnapped children from being taken across the border by encouraging Mexican law enforcement officials to sign up for Arizona's Web-based Amber Alert portal.
    A breakdown in communication between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials allowed a Mexican man to escape across the border in July as officials sought him in the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend's parents and brother and the abduction of his two children, said Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
    The Web-based system would prevent such breakdowns by allowing the sheriff's office to deliver Amber Alerts directly to Mexican authorities instead of relying on the federal government to communicate with Mexico, Arpaio said Friday.
    "This cuts all that out,'' Arpaio said. "Quick. Right to them.''
    Some police agencies in the Mexican state of Sonora have already signed up for the program and the mayor of Nogales has expressed interest in being involved, said Mexican Consul General Carlos Flores Vizcarra.
    Arpaio said he was prompted to work to include Mexican authorities in the Amber Alert system after Rodrigo Cervantes Zavala was accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend's parents and brother July 10 before fleeing across the border with his children, 18-month-old Bryan Cervantes and 3-year-old Jennifer Cervantes.
    Cervantes was arrested by Mexican authorities near Puerto Vallarta in late July. The children have since been reunited with their mother, Oneida Isabel Acosta.
    A motive for the killings has not been established, but sheriff's officials suspect Cervantes' goal was to take the children, Arpaio said.
    U.S. officials are working to extradite Cervantes so he can stand trial here for murder and kidnapping, but that process could take months, Arpaio said.
    Acosta, who attended the sheriff's news conference, said through a translator that if her testimony can help prevent other children from being abducted, she will give it as often as needed.
    Any person or organization can sign up to receive Amber Alerts by going to the Web site and entering contact information, said Todd Sander, chief operating officer of the Amber Alert Portal. Amber Alerts can be transmitted via e-mail, text messaging or fax.
    Arizona and Washington were the first states to launch the system a year ago, Sander said. Since then, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Missouri have set up their own Web portals. Kentucky and Rhode Island are ready to launch Amber Alert sites within a few weeks.