Rifki disappearance: a success for the plan “Abduction Alert” – Le Point

The plan “Abduction Alert”, triggered after the abduction in Rennes of a little boy found Sunday, is a 100% effective date device massive and immediate alert deployed to assist in the search for a presumed abducted child.

This is the 16th time that such a procedure was triggered, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry. Rifki, a boy of 4 years of Comorian origin, kidnapped Saturday, was found “safe and sound” early afternoon in Libourne (Gironde), and her alleged abductor was arrested, said the prosecutor Republic of Rennes. So far, this system has been effective in all cases to find abducted children. It is largely inspired the plan “Amber Alert”, created in Texas in 1996 after the kidnapping and murder of Amber Hagerman small.

Clear criteria

Adopted France in February 2006, is to launch in the event of a minor child abduction alert via massive fifty distribution channels (radio, television, websites, station signs and highways, urban billboards, networks SNCF and RATP, 22,000 terminals of the French games) to mobilize the population in the search for the abducted child and her abductor. Individuals can relay the alert via Facebook and smartphone applications. The plan “Abduction Alert”, launched under the authority of the prosecutor, should be triggered as soon as possible after removal, because the investigators found that the first 24 hours were crucial for the survival of the child. It is however activated only if several criteria are met: there must be a proven abduction and not simply disappearing, the victim should be minor and his body or his life be in danger, information would be possible to locate the child or the suspect and the parents of the disappeared must have given their agreement to launch the alert.

A TV alert every quarter hour

In France, device was successfully tested during the removal of the little Aurelia, in November 2005, in the Maine-et-Loire. It was officially launched for the first time July 9, 2006 after the disappearance of two sisters, Emeline and Melissa, 8 and 10 years in the Maine-et-Loire. An alert ultimately irrelevant, the two girls have returned home fifteen hours after their disappearance. Under the terms of the plan, a description of the child and possibly that of the person suspected of kidnapping and any information that may help to trace them are broadcast regularly. On television, a tape runs every quarter of an hour, while a full-screen message, possibly with a photo, appears between programs. The chains of the region closer together broadcast messages.