Greenwich Police that on Monday night they issued a Silver Alert for a 17-year-old resident after her family called and said she had not been home for the past two days.
They said that a few hours later, the teen was located safely and reunited with her family. The Silver Alert was canceled.
As of Tuesday morning there were no active AMBER or Silver Alerts issued from the Town of Greenwich.
Captain Mark Zuccerella explained that there are two methods police departments can use to make the public aware of a missing person, AMBER and Silver Alerts, and they are not the same.
The purpose of the public broadcast is to employ the assistance of residents in locating the missing person.
In Connecticut, a Silver Alert can pertain to a missing child under 18 years old, a missing person between 18 and 65 years old who has mental health issues, or someone over 65 years old. The Silver Alert information is broadcast via radio, television, lottery distributors, and electronic highway signs through the Emergency Alert System.
An Amber Alert must meet federal criteria and can only be triggered by state police, not a local police department. Police have to believe an abduction has occurred, and the child must be at risk of serious injury or death. Police also must have a description of the child, captor, or captor’s vehicle, and the child must be 17 years old or younger.
The Amber Alert information is immediately broadcast to all radio and television stations across the state through the Emergency Alert System.
The Emergency Alert System allows messages to be pushed to cell phones, such as severe weather alerts. Each cell phone can receive Amber Alerts and, depending on the device, may have to be turned on.
When there is an active Amber or Silver Alert, and a person sees the missing person involved or has information about the person’s whereabouts, they are advised to contact their police department immediately via E-911.