A 17-year-old boy who, according to New Orleans police, was kidnapped by his caregiver's son on Wednesday night is safe thanks in part to the city's new Bryan's Call system.
Police found Trenton Reeves early this morning after city officials issued a Bryan's Call to the public. His alleged abductor, Tommie Mango, 26, is facing a simple kidnapping charge.
It's the second such alert the city has put out since launching the program last month, and advocates for the program say it's working the way it's supposed to.
"It's getting people back with their families faster than they would have been without the alert system," Autism Society of Greater New Orleans executive director Claire Tibbetts said.
According to Tibbetts, Reeves's rescue on Thursday and the May 26th rescue of a missing 84-year-old woman are proof that the system works.
"When the one with the elderly lady went out, (authorities) did call for a silver alert," Tibbetts said. "Because they knew how dangerous it was, they went ahead and sent out a Bryan's Call about her because it takes longer to activate a Silver Alert, and they were able to find her right away because of that alert."
Tibbetts says two rescues following two Bryan's calls is a good start for the new alert system.
"I would say that's pretty successful," Tibbetts said. "I do appreciate the city having this alert system, and I'm really glad to see it's getting people back with their families."
Tibbetts adds that families should visit the NOLA Ready website and become familiar with the Bryan's Call system just in case they should ever have to use it.
"They have a lot of good information on the website about how they do the alert, what the qualifications are, what information they need, and if a family is already prepared with that, then while they're in that panic situation, they already know how to interact with the system," Tibbetts said.
