A Gold Alert is active for a 14-year-old Newark boy last seen Saturday evening in the 100 block of East Beaver Court, with police saying they have been unable to locate or contact him since. Yasier Thompson was last seen around 6:21 p.m., and officers say they are concerned for his health and safety.
The New Castle County Police announced the Gold Alert late Saturday night, describing Thompson as a Black male standing about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing roughly 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue t-shirt, gray shorts, black mid-calf socks, black slides and a tan-and-black do-rag, according to the department’s post. Anyone with information is urged to call the New Castle County Police Department at (302) 573-2800 or dial 911 immediately.
East Beaver Court sits within Newark’s 19702 zip code, inside the Salem Woods and Village of Lakecro communities south of Newark proper — a stretch of mostly mid-1980s townhomes in unincorporated New Castle County, according to Realtor.com. The neighborhood context adds a local backdrop to a search that unfolded over the weekend across suburban New Castle County.
Why a Gold Alert Instead of an Amber Alert
Thompson’s case was broadcast under Delaware’s Gold Alert system rather than a nationwide Amber Alert, a distinction rooted in how narrowly federal guidelines define the latter. Amber Alerts are reserved strictly for confirmed child abductions involving imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death, according to the Delaware State Senate, leaving state-level programs to fill the gap for other missing youth…