A portion of South Mountain Reservation was closed last week for a child abduction simulation exercise designed to test and strengthen the response and coordination of law enforcement personnel to such an event.
A realistic scenario involving a 12-year-old autistic girl who went missing in the park was created for the event: The girl and a friend were riding their bikes together before stopping at a McDonalds where the 12 year old met a man and left with him.
An actual girl, who was a family friend of a high ranking member of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, was enlisted to play the role of the girl. There were also volunteers playing the roles of bystanders and witnesses who, as sometimes happens in real life cases, gave investigators bad information that they had to sort through in an effort to find the truth…