Photo illustration showing Ethan Stately, Red Lake Nation, and type of vehicle he was found in

By Jody Garlock

Red Lake, Minnesota, set on the idyllic shores of one the state’s largest lakes, is typically a tranquil community. But on March 15, 2024, it bore witness to an unfathomable chain of events. The sirens of fire trucks and police cars echoed throughout the Red Lake Nation’s towering pine and birch trees as first responders raced toward a one-story home from which smoke was billowing.

Tragically, emergency responders found two young boys with knife wounds inside the house; both boys died. The area was a crime scene, and agents from the FBI and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) were among those who joined the investigation.

Red Lake Police authorities would also soon learn that a third child lived at the house. Three-year-old Ethan Stately, authorities realized, was missing and feared to be in danger, taken by his mother (who also was the mother of the two other boys).

Although the Red Lake Department of Public Safety had never before initiated an AMBER Alert, Department Director Kendall Kingbird Sr. and Lieutenant Geoff Pierre sensed how dire the situation was. “We had to get it solved and find our missing boy and mother,” Kingbird says. “And we needed to do that as soon as possible.” The AMBER Alert that followed would be the first one issued for any Minnesota Tribe.

Photos of Ricky Wuori and Janell Twardowski with the Minnesota BCA as well as the AMBER Alert poster for Ethan Stately.
“With this AMBER Alert, we hit all the components,” says Minnesota AMBER Alert Coordinator Janell Twardowski (right), who worked on the case with BCA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ricky Wuori (left) and others.

The case’s participating law enforcement agencies consider the collaboration a textbook example of an AMBER Alert response. From the beginning, state, Tribal, and federal partners coordinated efforts and shared information. The FBI immediately partnered with the Red Lake public safety department and BCA—responsible for issuing AMBER Alerts in Minnesota—and avoided communication silos to ensure resources were aligned and deployed. And the on-site presence of BCA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ricky Wuori, alongside FBI agents and Red Lake officers, facilitated rapid decision- making and an efficient, unified response.

The AMBER Alert itself solidly met all of the criteria. There was an abundance of information: the mother’s and child’s photos, a picture of the vehicle, the complete license plate number, and a distinctive Red Lake Nation tag. The alert also provided enough descriptive information to prompt a motorist who had seen the AMBER Alert to call authorities. “He spotted the vehicle, confirmed the license plate, and called 911,” says Janell Twardowski, AMBER Alert Coordinator (AAC) with the BCA’s Operations Center. “With any AMBER Alert, we’re relying on the public to respond, and that’s exactly what happened in this case.”

Less than two hours after the statewide AMBER Alert was issued around 9 p.m., authorities acting on the motorist’s tip pulled over the mother’s vehicle on a Minnesota highway. The toddler was safe inside, but showed signs of neglect. The mother, Jennifer Stately, was arrested and has since been federally charged with various counts of murder, arson, and child neglect. (An indictment alleges that Stately fatally stabbed one of her boys and slashed the other before setting the house on fire and fleeing with Ethan. She has filed an insanity defense.)

Red Lake Nation Public Safety Director Kendall Kingbird Sr. and Lieutenant Geoff Pierre.
Red Lake Public Safety Director Kendall Kingbird Sr. (on right) and Lieutenant Geoff Pierre led Red Lake’s AMBER Alert case that safely recovered 3-year-old Ethan Stately.

Aerial view of the Red Lake Nation land in Minnesota.

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We couldn’t have asked for a quicker response and a better outcome. We’re glad the child was located, and it wouldn’t have been possible without an AMBER Alert.

Kendall Kingbird Sr. Public Safety Director, Red Lake Nation (shown above)

The Red Lake Nation, one of the state’s 11 federally recognized Tribes, has full sovereignty, subject only to the federal government. (It’s one of two Minnesota Tribes exempt from Public Law 280; therefore state courts/government have no jurisdiction.)

The fact that Kingbird and Pierre made the swift decision to initiate the department’s first-ever AMBER Alert stems in part from a trusted relationship with Wuori, who works out of the BCA’s regional office in Bemidji. “They have assisted us with a lot,” Kingbird says.

Wuori credits ongoing communication as key to building trust between agencies. “When you have a good relationship, it’s easier to get things moving,” he says. “It’s constant communication—stopping in and checking on everybody from time to time, not just when you need something.” Tribal investigators regularly meet with BCA agents, and BCA has held training specific to AMBER Alerts. Additionally, over the years, Minnesota’s Tribal communities have received ongoing training and support from the AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) and its AMBER Alert in Indian Country initiative, which are funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and supported by the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act.

As Minnesota’s AAC, Twardowski points to similar relationship-building needed to ensure an AMBER Alert reaches as many people as possible. She credits the state’s media with timely stories and the state’s transportation department with posting roadside alert messages. “As an agency, we are committed to leveraging our partnerships to reach as many Minnesotans as possible,” she says.

In the aftermath of the incident, an outpouring of emotion filled the Red Lake community. A walk of remembrance and candlelight vigil were held to honor the 5- and 6-year-old brothers who died. Yet despite the profound grief, displays of hope and strength emerged. “We’re a tight-knitcommunity,” Kingbird says. For him, the tragedy instilled confidence in the AMBER Alert process. “We couldn’t have asked for a quicker response and a better outcome,” he says. “We’re glad the child was located, and it wouldn’t have been possible without an AMBER Alert.”

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In the face of such tragedy, the partnership between local, state, Tribal, and federal agencies proved crucial. Through our combined efforts and the vigilance of the public, we were able to locate a missing child and hold those responsible accountable.

Alvin M. Winston Sr. Special Agent in Charge, FBI Minneapolis
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This case is yet another example of how AMBER Alerts save lives. They get critical information out quickly to millions ... [who are] willing to step up to help rescue a child in mortal danger.

Drew Evans BCA Superintendent (in statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota)

Illustration showing AMBER Alert-related feature that appeared on the front page of the Minneapolis, MN, Star Tribune newspaper. It shows two quotes, one from Janell Rasmussen, and the other from Patty Wetterling.By Denise Gee Peacock

The work of the AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) and its Minnesota-based partners was front-page news this week in the state’s largest newspaper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The June 9, 2024, article—entitled “Amber Alerts help avert nightmares: State’s system finds kids, builds on success”—was written by reporter Kim Hyatt.

“AMBER Alert finds missing children with efficiency, spreading lifesaving information statewide in an instant and leading to swift recoveries,” Hyatt reports. “Since Minnesota launched the program in 2002, all but one of the 46 children subject of the alerts here were safely recovered—most within the same day.”

The state’s success with AMBER Alert “does not mean the system is static,” Hyatt noted. “It continues to improve through training and by spreading to new communities 22 years after it was initiated by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).”

Photo of AATTAP-AIIC team with Minnesota Tribes and law enforcement during a Technology Toolkits presentation in May 2023.
The AATTAP’s AMBER Alert in Indian Country (AIIC) team provided free Technology Toolkits to Minnesota’s 11 federally recognized Tribes in May 2023. The AIIC was created after passage of the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018, which provides training and technical assistance to Tribes to foster stronger and faster communication and with regional, state, and federal law enforcement partners.
The article includes these highlights:
  • Since inception of the state’s AMBER Alert program in 2002, 46 children have been the focus of AMBER Alerts. Nearly half of those children (22) were safely recovered in less than three hours. One child, Alayna Ertl, was not able to be safely recovered.
  • In 2013, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to successfully send AMBER Alerts to cellphones, which led to the quick recovery of a baby in Minneapolis.
  • The state’s most recent AMBER Alert was the first to be issued by a Minnesota Tribe (the Red Lake Tribal Police). The alert led to the successful recovery of a missing 3-year-old child.
  • Interviews with two native (and current) Minnesotans who not only have made significant impacts in Minnesota, but in the nation—and beyond:
    • Patty Wetterling, a longtime advocate for missing children. She is the mother of Jacob Wetterling, who was abducted at age 11 on October 22, 1989, by a masked gunman near their home in St. Joseph, Minnesota. (Jacob’s remains were found nearly 27 years after his abduction, and his abductor charged with murder.) Wetterling co-founded and is past director of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s counseling network Team HOPE, and has shared countless victim impact sessions with law enforcement across the U.S.—much of them for the AATTAP and its parent organization, the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College. (Read more about Wetterling’s work for U.S. Department of Justice resource, When Your Child is Missing: A Family Survival Guide, and her new book, Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope.)
    • Child protection expert Janell Rasmussen. Rasmussen serves as Administrator of the AATTAP, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice to provide training and technical assistance to law enforcement throughout the United States and its territories, Indian Country, and abroad. Early in Rasmussen’s career she worked as AMBER Alert Coordinator for the Minnesota BCA—and became a good friend of the Wetterling family. Read more about her AATTAP work here.
  • Insight into the state’s AMBER Alert work from BCA Superintendent Drew Evans. “There’s only so many law enforcement officers that are out working at any given time. Yet we have nearly six million Minnesotans that can be our eyes and ears out in the community, and everybody has a vested interest in recovering our children,” he told the Star Tribune. (Note: The Star Tribune reported that access to AMBER Alerts is spreading to new communities, but everyone in the state has had the ability to request AMBER Alerts since the state plan was created in 2002.)
Photo showing Patty Wetterling (second from right), Janell Rasmussen (far right), Donna Norris (mother of Amber Hagerman, center), U.S. DOJ Assistant Attorney General Deborah J. Daniels (second from left), and abduction survivor Tamara Brooks (far left) at the first national AMBER Alert Conference in 2003.
At the first national AMBER Alert Conference in 2003, Patty Wetterling (second from right) and Janell Rasmussen (far right) are photographed with Donna Norris (center), the mother of AMBER Alert namesake Amber Hagerman. Also shown are then-U.S. DOJ Assistant Attorney General Deborah J. Daniels (second from left), and abduction survivor Tamara Brooks (far left). “There’s strength in the resilience of these searching parents,” Wetterling told the Star Tribune. Rasmussen notes that when this photograph was taken, she was pregnant with her daughter, who is expected to graduate next year with a degree in criminal justice.

 

 

 

Patty Wetterling Challenges AMBER Alert Partners to Never Give Up Hope

Patty Wetterling
Patty Wetterling

Patty Wetterling fought back tears while describing how she learned her son's body had been found after nearly three decades of searching and hoping he was still alive. On October 22, 1989, her 11-year-old son Jacob was riding his bike when he was taken by a masked gunman in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Wetterling shared her story with nearly 100 AMBER Alert Coordinators and Missing Person Clearinghouse Managers from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico at the 2017 AMBER Alert Symposium held June 27-29, 2017, in Bloomington, Minnesota.

“We were alone,” she said. “I knew nothing about law enforcement. I knew nothing about your world.”

Wetterling was a stay-at-home mom when her son was abducted but soon became one of the nation's fiercest advocates for missing and abducted children, all the while continuing to search tirelessly for her son. Soft-spoken, yet amazingly strong, Patty shared with symposium participants important lessons learned in the 27 years through which she and her family persevered in the search for Jacob.

Of the many lessons and insights shared, she explained how important it is to have a family spokesperson to talk to reporters, squelch rumors, keep the story alive and make sure all media outlets are treated fairly.

Wetterling emphasized that the victim's family needs to be asked the hard questions from the beginning to help with the investigation and build trust for the long term. She added that a multi-jurisdictional task force is critical when a child is abducted, and officers should leave their egos at the door when working on the task force.

“There is a problem of silos in law enforcement,” said Wetterling. As she spoke about this issue and how law enforcement through training and preparedness, can overcome this dangerous barrier to swift and effective response in child abduction cases she emphasized, “It is not about you. It is about the child.”

On September 1, 2016, Danny James Heinrich led investigators to the burial site of Jacob Wetterling and admitted to sexually assaulting and killing him. “You search for 27 years and eight days and it was over,” said Wetterling. “I did not know where to go for what was next.”

Wetterling plans to continue talking to law enforcement groups and others involved with missing and abducted child cases to help increase understanding about these cases and improve preparation for effective response; all in an effort to make things better the next time a child is taken.

She said Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard, Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck should give every parent hope their missing child may come home. “Never give up. Ever. You cannot give up on these cases,” said Wetterling.

Five Year Reunion

James Walters, AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) Administrator, welcomed new and familiar faces to the first AMBER Alert Symposium in five years. The symposium was presented by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

Walters encouraged participants to take advantage of the more than 130 AATTAP classes that can be requested at no cost for customized delivery in their areas, as well as those training courses which can be completed online anytime 24/7. “There is no reason not to get AMBER Alert training,” said Walters. “We need to go forward. We cannot go backwards.”

Eileen Garry, Acting Administrator with OJJDP, remarked on the importance of coming together, noting the symposium was designed to bring key AMBER Alert program partners together to foster coordination and collaboration. “We really do rely on you, the boots on the ground, who eat and breathe this every day,” she said. “There is no issue stronger in my heart than the return of missing and abducted children.”

New in 2017

Dan Mills, NCMEC Training Program Manager, noted that 60 percent of all AMBER Alerts involve suspects who are family members. “Even though they are with a family member, this does not mean they are safe,” said Mills. “You never stop searching until the child comes home.”

NCMEC tracks all attempted abductions in the U.S. “A lot of abduction attempts are not successful on the first try,” said Mills. “We can look for trends and patterns when a child is missing.”

Mills explained that NCMEC offers a wealth of resources to help law enforcement, families and community members with missing and abducted child cases: a video to help searchers find missing children with autism; age progression photos that can be used when a child has been missing for an extended period of time; advanced forensic techniques to produce pictures of victims who are recovered deceased; Team HOPE, a support group of volunteers who have experienced having a missing child; and Team Adam, a group of retired law enforcement officers who can provide expertise during a missing child case.

Updates were provided on the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), the national warning system used to disseminate Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). On January 1, 2013, IPAWS began distributing AMBER Alerts to all cell phones in the geographical area of the abducted child.

Mark Lucero, IPAWS Engineering Chief, shared information on upcoming improvements for WEA: a fourth type of alert for public safety will now be issued in addition to AMBER Alerts and other alerts for national and extreme weather emergencies; hyperlinks to website addresses and phone numbers will be added in November 2017; messages will be available in Spanish in November 2018; and message length will increase from 90 to 360 characters in May 2019.

In discussing the composition of these messages and how IPAWS and WEA support them, Lucero noted how vital license plate numbers and vehicle descriptions are for issuing AMBER Alerts. He also emphasized how training which includes testing and operation of IPAWS and related systems will promote stronger readiness the next time a child is taken. “Test, train, exercise and make mistakes,” he said.

The Big Picture

Drew Evans, Superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, encouraged participants to review and refresh their AMBER Alert programs. “There is not one AMBER Alert call that I am not on pins and needles until I know what happened,” said Evans. “It is hard to make incremental changes. I urge you to make your programs better.”

Tracy Perzel, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, also challenged everyone to do more to bring children home safely. “Our job is to pursue those who hurt our children,” she said. “It says a lot about our country if we do not protect our children.”

“The AMBER Alert system is a crucial tool to quickly, loudly and wisely alert the public about the need for help. There is no other way to bring the power of observation from law enforcement and people going about their business,” noted Perzel.

Louisiana Missing Persons Clearinghouse Manager and AMBER Alert Coordinator Stacey Pearson summed up the symposium with these words: “The contacts we made these last three days and the relationships we have made will save more children.”