missing children found safe

From Staff Reports

Two Tyler children who went missing Friday morning have been found safe and unharmed, police said.

An AMBER Alert was issued around 12:30 p.m. Friday as authorities continued to search for the children, 3 and 4, who were seen being picked up by an unknown vehicle around 1 a.m. that morning.

Around 7:10 a.m. Friday, Tyler Police Department officers responded to a critical missing call at 4123 S Park Dr. at the Evergreen Apartments in Tyler. The caller stated her two children were last seen at this location at 10 p.m. Thursday night.

The missing children were identified as 3-year-old Legend Sanford and 4-year-old Kannon O’Neal. They were last seen walking on Sybil Lane around 1 a.m. and were picked up by a gray Mazda hatchback with an unknown Texas license plate, according to the Tyler Police Department.

The boys were located around 1:15 p.m. Friday in the 800 block of E. Grande Boulevard near the Hamilton Ridge Condominiums, after police received a tip from a caller.

The children will be taken to the Smith County Children’s Advocacy Center for interviews before going to the hospital to be checked out.

Police thanked the public for sharing the initial bulletin and say the case is still under investigation.

If you know have any information about the case, call 903-531-1000.

The community often asks why AMBER Alerts are not issued quicker. The below represents AMBER Alert criteria for the state’s network, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety:

Is this child 17 years of age or younger, whose whereabouts are unknown, and whose disappearance law enforcement has determined to be unwilling which poses a credible threat to the child’s safety and health; and if abducted by a parent or legal guardian, was the abduction in the course of an attempted murder or murder?

Is this child 13 years of age or younger, who was taken (willingly or unwillingly) without permission from the care and custody of a parent or legal guardian by: Someone unrelated and more than three years older, or another parent or legal guardian who attempted or committed murder at the time of the abduction?

Is this child in immediate danger of sexual assault, death or serious bodily injury?

Has a preliminary investigation verified the abduction and eliminated alternative explanations for the child’s disappearance?

Is sufficient information available to disseminate to the public to help locate the child, a suspect, or the vehicle used in the abduction?