RANDOLPH COUNTY, N.C. — The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office says every second counts when a child is missing. That’s why some are questioning the nearly two-hour delay in sending a phone alert about 7-year-old Liam King.
Here’s the timeline:
- 5:14 p.m. – The Sheriff’s Office sent a news release about Liam’s disappearance.
- 6:57 p.m. – The alert finally went out to phones across the Triad.
That’s a gap of one hour and 43 minutes.
Sheriff explains the wait
Sheriff Greg Seabolt told 2 Wants To Know deputies were still verifying information.
“We were gathering information. We were getting people in place to do a search. We had to verify that maybe a family member didn’t come and pick up the child, so there’s a lot of things that come into play there. We wanted to get that alert out as quickly as possible,” Seabolt said.
State response
The NC Center for Missing Persons also plays a role in sending out alerts. The director says she saw the Sheriff’s Office Facebook post while about to board a plane and had on-call staff reach out to activate the alert…