dodie_s Apr. 18, 2007 at 11:11 AM

yesterday, April 17th

FYI - I called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and they said not every child is given an Amber alert.  This child does not have one but that doesn't mean anything.  Apparently there's actually some criteria you have to pass for your kid to qualify for an Amber Alert.  Who knew????  They also said IF they were going to do one, it would have been done within 48 hours.  This case is about 2 weeks old so there will apparently never be an Amber Alert for this child. 

The only thing additional I've found so far is full name on the poster, Devin Shipley, the woman in the photo is NOT the mom (maybe an aunt), the boy is a nephew, the phone # is to Jackson, Wyoming.... I am tempted to call and verify...... not sure what else to do. 

Can't find anything in Snopes yet.  Perhaps a quick look at the local news out there.  Maybe I should search for moms out there and see if they've heard anything.

I emailed the police:

From: Darlene
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 3:21 PM
To: Dan Zivkovich
Subject: Possible missing child report - would like to verify before repeating

 I am a member of Cafemom, an online site for moms.  A member received this info and before we circulate it we’d just like to verify it’s not a hoax.  

I did some searching and found this elsewhere:

from:   http://www.scangwinnett.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=100169 

I called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and they said not every child is given an Amber alert.  This child does not have one but that doesn't mean anything.  Apparently there's actually some criteria you have to pass for your kid to qualify for an Amber Alert.  Who knew????  They also said IF they were going to do one, it would have been done within 48 hours.  This case is about 2 weeks old so there will apparently never be an Amber Alert for this child. 

The only thing additional I've found so far is full name on the poster, Devin Shipley, the woman in the photo is NOT the mom (maybe an aunt), the boy is supposedly a nephew, the phone # is to Jackson, Wyoming.

Can you tell us whether this is true or not??  Thank you.

Darlene, Troy, NY    

his reply:

Ms. D:

I admire your desire to pass along factual information and not forward the kind of hoax that is rampant on the Internet these days.  Here is what I know:

It is possible that the missing child report is valid.  Unfortunately, I cannot definitively verify that for you.  We do have a Devin Shipley living in the Jackson area.  In doing some checking, we have received information that, indeed, Kaylee’s father may have abducted Kaylee.  However, we have not received any reports of the abduction.  Since the alleged abduction occurred in Arizona, Ms. Shipley would have reported the crime there.  Lakeside (Arizona) Police Department is likely the investigating agency since the father is purported to live there.  You might contact them to make sure 1) the report is valid and 2) if so, to make sure Kaylee has not been found already.

I hope that information is helpful.

Sincerely,

Dan Zivkovich

Chief of Police

Jackson Police Department

Jackson, Wyoming

307-733-1430

I have emailed the police in Arizona and am waiting for their reply now.

Update 3:30p.m. April 18, 2007:

I just spoke with Devin Shipley, Kaylee's mom, and this is true.  She is emailing more details and I'll post a more complete update when it arrives.

Main reason there's no Amber Alert is because they have joint custody.  Problem is, dad is a meth addict and he just took off with Kaylee instead of returning her home on the agreed upon date.  Mom has to get into court to get Judge to change custody to "Sole" before "Missing & Exploited Children" will issue the alert.  More later.

***The original posts (2) were both done by mom over in MySpace.  At the time she was distraught over the news that she couldn't get an Amber Alert and her only thought was to use the internet.  She confirmed via phone that the Oklahoma Plate report is correct, not the AZ.  A Cafemom member who saw the posts on MySpace brought the report to the Cafe, not the mom.  Mom is open to receiving any calls and appreciates the outpouring of support!!

SantaMom Apr. 18, 2007 at 4:33 PM