Nationwide — Latricia Hartley, an African American mother from San Francisco, was arrested by local police as she desperately searched for her 14-year-old daughter who went missing. It comes after she pleaded with authorities to issue alerts but was ignored.
According to the San Francisco Standard, Hartley said she alerted authorities about her daughter’s history of mental illness and the potential danger she faced after allegedly being lured away by a 16-year-old boy.
Despite these pleas, the San Francisco Police Department declined to launch a formal search, citing her daughter as a runaway. The police believed Hartley’s daughter’s situation did not meet the criteria to issue an Amber Alert despite her special needs.
Hartley also called for an Ebony Alert, which is designed to find missing Black women and girls aged 12-25 facing physical or mental danger. But her request was ignored, citing jurisdiction concerns even though they didn’t contact neighboring jurisdictions either.
Left with no police help, Hartley organized a community search effort, shared posters of missing persons on social media, and contacted local hospitals. Finally, on April 6, she received an anonymous tip suggesting her daughter might be at the boy’s home in Castro Valley. She informed the police, who searched the house but found nothing.
Hartley, who was convinced her daughter was there, conducted her own search. Upon arriving at the boy’s house, he called 911 saying Hartley and her group were trying to break in. The police arrested Hartley for suspicion of child abuse and felony burglary.
Later that day, they found her daughter hiding under a bed in the house. Hartley’s daughter was safely returned home, but Hartley now faces reduced charges to a misdemeanor.
While relieved her daughter is safe, Hartley expressed frustration with law enforcement’s response, saying, “I know my daughter, and I told them I knew she was at risk. That should have been enough. Instead, it’s like, my daughter’s life was in danger, and y’all didn’t care.”
Source: BlackNews.com
