Mass alert helps locate missing boy

MEDFORD, Ore. — A 10-year-old boy was missing for roughly 12 hours this weekend. After Medford police sent out a missing child alert, he was found in less than half an hour.

The missing boy was found after a resident saw the boy on their security cameras and pointed police in the right direction.

The missing child alert system is able to send out mass messages through emails, phone calls and texts to people in the area. The system can send the message out to about a thousand subscribers in one minute.

“So many more people have technology at their fingertips. They have video cameras in front of their houses and that’s one thing that we have been able to tap into and it just makes our job a lot easier,” Sgt. Steve Furst, Medford Police Department, said.

Sgt. Furst said this is the first time he’s seen the alert work this fast. The Medford Police Department has used the system for years, but only sparingly. It was also used last month by Jackson County Search and Rescue when an elderly woman went missing in Butte Falls.

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