Amber Alert canceled after missing girl is found safe
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TACOMA, Wash. - An Amber Alert issued for a 16-year-old girl with mental disabilities was canceled Wednesday morning after the girl was found safe.
Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said tips led officers to house in North Tacoma about 7:45 a.m. where they found Briana Troyer and 21-year-old Terrence D. Powell asleep.
Fulghum said the girl will be returned to her family. Her father is Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer.
Investigators will determine if Powell did anything wrong. He's a Level 1 sex offender who left a Tacoma bowling alley Tuesday with the girl. She's a special education student with a mental capacity of a 9-year-old, according to police.
Briana was at Tower Lanes on Tuesday evening with other members of the Wilson High School bowling team for practice when she apparently walked away with Powell.
Fulghum said the coach or supervisor may not have been there at 5:30 p.m. when she disappeared.
Troyer, who is the Amber Alert coordinator for Pierce County, did not want to comment while the search was under way but supported Tacoma police in a posting on his Facebook page.
"I am going to stay off the media as much as possible due to not wanting the suspect to see who I am, which could bring harm to Briana. Tacoma Police are doing an excellent job and are leaving nothing unchecked. When the time is right I will share what we are going through and what happened," the post said.
Fulghum did not know the criminal history that led to Powell's listing as a Level 1 sex offender. The classification is the lowest level and applied to people, many of them first-time offenders, considered at minimal risk to reoffend.
Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said tips led officers to house in North Tacoma about 7:45 a.m. where they found Briana Troyer and 21-year-old Terrence D. Powell asleep.
Fulghum said the girl will be returned to her family. Her father is Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer.
Investigators will determine if Powell did anything wrong. He's a Level 1 sex offender who left a Tacoma bowling alley Tuesday with the girl. She's a special education student with a mental capacity of a 9-year-old, according to police.
Briana was at Tower Lanes on Tuesday evening with other members of the Wilson High School bowling team for practice when she apparently walked away with Powell.
Fulghum said the coach or supervisor may not have been there at 5:30 p.m. when she disappeared.
Troyer, who is the Amber Alert coordinator for Pierce County, did not want to comment while the search was under way but supported Tacoma police in a posting on his Facebook page.
"I am going to stay off the media as much as possible due to not wanting the suspect to see who I am, which could bring harm to Briana. Tacoma Police are doing an excellent job and are leaving nothing unchecked. When the time is right I will share what we are going through and what happened," the post said.
Fulghum did not know the criminal history that led to Powell's listing as a Level 1 sex offender. The classification is the lowest level and applied to people, many of them first-time offenders, considered at minimal risk to reoffend.
ATTN: (NorthEndFolks) usually when people see children digging through garbage cans and being obviously NEGLECTED they dont rant about "messy yards" and troubled houses online, THEY CALL CPS EVERYDAY UNTIL THE PROBLEM IS RESOLVED!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and guess what, CPS does this thing called random home inspections so if there is DRUGS or filth or illegal activity which you claim to be of safety concern to your "neighborhood" instead of "WATCHING" how about "ACTING" things like this only go on when ignored instead of handled! But hey thats why our poor children of society suffer today and continue on the pattern of ignorance, so much easier to ignore things that "aint our problem" then to be a good HUMAN BEING and help fix the problem!!!
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I have lived in that neighborhood for 7 years and have had no bigger problem than the house i live next to that big ugly greenhouse that can't seem to get the rest of their work done, it is the biggest eyesore for miles, I always see those little girls rummaging through other peoples trash cans, playing with their stray cats, and the two ladies that live there are two terribly mean short stout women with sunken faces I've never seen a happy face on either of them they dont pick up anything in their yard and it looks like a run down playground from hell  with a huge half painted worn pink shed in front yard and their backyard looks like the wasteland full of trash and Old children's play toys the women living there both look to be in their 60 and yet they have 3 young girls living in that kind of situation, i know im moving.Â
@Dr.David at least they don't let sex offenders crash there. What kind of person lets that happen in their house?
 @ArmyWife84 They could be sex offenders you never know these days.
 @Dr.David Wow. What a terrible situation.
This is not a surprise. This happened down the street from me in the Vassault neighborhood, that house is troubled. I have always assumed it was a group home for challenged people judging by who lives there. The house is in complete disrepair, for about a year it didnât even have a door handle! I was worried it would invite thieves to take a closer look at our houses. The yard always looks like a scene from Jurassic Park. There are also always so many teenage kids hanging around its amazing none of them can pull a freaking weed, instead itâs an eyesore we all have to look at. There is an older lady who lives there that my kids nicknamed the âStay-Puffed Marshmallow woman.â Â A random assortment of thugish looking gentleman callers and two very loud and troubled gangsta teen boys who are constantly screaming and fighting in the yard. Seriously the police show up like every week. Â I have to worry about my children because of their speeding like hell in a little purple hatchback. I once saw one of them making out and âother stuffâ WITH ANOTHER MAN in broad daylight in the car. Itâs disgusting! Â Iâm sure they are making or selling drugs there. It always smells like weed in the middle of the day. AND NOW THEY ARE HARBORING SEX OFFENDERS. I hope the police shut down this home before more people get hurt.
 @NorthendWatcherEvery house in that neighborhood is in affiliation with gangs and drugs that BIG UGLY BLUE HOUSE  is knowing for harboring crips and growing weed for years they have consent trafic in and out of the neighborhood  and the people accros the street that live in  that UNFINISHED GREEN house  live entirely off the government and sew the other people to pay their own rent Once i saw one of the little girls like 10 years old  that lives in that house  picking in the trash cans of the house next door and that. something needs to be done!
 @concernedcitizen Maybe this latest "incident" will be the start of something positive.
 @NorthendWatcher If they had to go out and get jobs and actually work to support themselves, things there might be different...
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Thanks LBJ.
@TheTruncheon @NorthendWatcher It's not just LBJ. Lets be honest here. It's been made socially accepted for young men, particularly black to not have legitimate jobs. Between lousy parents and food stamps and Obama Phones why would they work? Young black people have made themselves slaves of the government. And as someone who is married to a hard working black man I find today's generation pathetic as does he.
 @ArmyWife84 You are correct in saying that it's not "just" LBJ, but the so-called "Great Society" was begun during LBJ's watch, and as glorious as the dreams and intentions of it were almost fifty years ago, since then it has proven to be, with a few exceptions, the foundation of the ever-growing social disaster we are forced to not only experience every day now, but also continue to pay for with our taxes, as the third-generation products of "Great Society" hand-outs now "mature" in angry and violent idleness... relentlessly biting the hands that are ironically still compelled to feed and house them.
@NorthendWatcher you forgot to mention the 1986 Rape van with the kicked out windows and Mr. Pibb Paint job.
Ed Troyer, you are my hero and are going directly to heaven. Don't you have several adopted, special needs kids? I send you ALL my best.
Ok, lets just put it out there... if this guy had been caught 'in flaggrente' [so to speak] I wouldn't give a plug nickel for his chances in the PCJ.
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Further, court records had Det. Troyer's 19 year old son as being charged with having sexual contact with a 14 year old girl. The article about this came out today in the News Tribune [link below].
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All I can say is that I am aware of the work that Ed has done over the years, and I can only imagine what his family must be going through. My sympathies to the Troyer family and my best hopes that their daughter was not assaulted.
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http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/04/26/2122236/son-of-pierce-county-sheriffs.html
Hats off to you Det.Troyer.You have my utmost respect.Ed and his wife have adopted quite a few,if not all his kids.Kids with special needs.Giving kids a safe home,a Mom and Dad.Love.Your job in itself,well I really don't know how you do it,but you do it AWESOME!!!I can speak for the state of Washington,we are elated that Briana was found safe.
Keep in mind folks that Ed Troyer's son is also a sex offender. He had sex with a 14 year old. Where was the outrage then?Â
I too have a mentally challenged child and would certainly be sure that either my husband or I would be there to pick him up from a league meet just like any other parent. Shame on Mr and Mrs Troyer for trying to use his position as an excuse for negligence.
Poor judgement on the young man's part certainly kidnapping probably not. She actually looks older than he does..
Well my two cents is:
First: Parents are as responsible as anyone else for making sure that their daughter returns home. I have a son with issues (none of your business), but I make sure he is safe getting to events as well as home. Maybe we should be talking about the parents and the responsibility they have even if he is an officer!
Second cent. Letâs not convict anyone until evidence is out that way. I understand how I would feel if it was my son or daughter. At the same time 60 min had a great show on people falsely accused of crimes and it ruined their life. I understand he is a sex offender.
If you KNOW all the fax please share if not keep an open mind until the truth comes out.
Thank you to all the Special ED people that work with our kids and the tough jobs you have.
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 @Bryan Johnson You are 100% right. I am around special needs children everyday, not because I work with them but because my son has needs. The one thing I have learned is that most of them do not understand stranger danger, including my son. All it takes is for someone to say hi and they have a new best friend. I am sure he did not go looking for this girl, and she felt like she did have a best friend. You sound like a great dad and I hope your enjoying this adventure with your son. I know I would never change it for the life of me.
So glad Briana was found safe & sound & hopefully unviolated. Looks like Mr. Powell's sex offender level might need to be re-evaluated. He's 21-he had to know she was under 18 just by looking at her.
Can't imagine what they must have been doing if they were found asleep together.
Wow! Really must've been a real conflict of interest for Ed. Glad she's safe and I hope Ed's doing alright. Damn punk better straighten himself out. Taking the daughter of Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman probably not a very bright thing to do.
I'm thinking he possibly will be considered level 3Â after the investigation is all over. I can't imagine that nothing happened to the girl in that length of time.
@Paulina Sieberath Even if nothing happened, what was his intent with taking a 16 year old girl? He is 21, and he had to know she was under 18 just by looking at her. I'm thinking a re-evaluation of his sex offender level is in order.
he kidnapped a cops daughter? I'm surprised he is still alive.
 @Vince Kind of reminds me of the guy who "slipped off the curb"
http://scottthong.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/knife-stabbing-shoplifter-injured-by-angry-a-kicking-marines-and-falling-down-but-mostly-by-falling-down/
This happened to one of my kids with special needs. They are so vulnerable.
Sounds like a 16 year old girl probably tired of being treated like she's nine. I have an 18 year old disabled nephew who supposedly has a mental capacity of an 8 year old but only when its convenient for his parents.  Â
@BornAndRaisedInWA That irritates me so much! I have an 8 yr old son with aspergers. When he was diagnoised his doctor told us not to expect much from him, what his doctor didn't know was that I had been a caregiver for autistic and aspergers children for the past 5 years and knew what needed to be done. In August my son went in for his yealy drs appt, the dr was so shocked that it was the same child- my son is no longer considered to have aspergers. When a child has a disability the parents need to do as much as possible to help the child overcome it, no not every disability can be overcome but when a parent uses the disability to their advantage (either by being lazy and not working with the child or by not wanting the child to get better because they get money for the childs disability) then the parent needs to lose the child.Â
 @MomOf2  @BornAndRaisedInWA Some parents work very hard to help their children with autism and dedicate their lives to it and their children never stop having autism.  Aspbergers and autism are extremely complex and in some situations are misdiagnosed and then when the cause of the symptoms goes away then the parents believe the autism has been cured when really the symptoms weren't autism but something else. For example severe food allergies (especially to wheat, preservatives, chemicals) can cause symptoms of autism and when removed from the diet the symptoms go away - but the child was not cured of autism because the child never had autism. It is a slippery slope to applaud oneself for curing a disease and saying that others are lazy because they haven't.
@Julia @BornAndRaisedInWA I never said my son was cured, I said his dr no longer considers him to have aspergers right now. I know as my son gets older more syptoms will come out and I know we will work with him to overcome them. Aspergers is something that can be overcome with the right help- they are never cured but they can learn to overcome things and live a successful life. My son has been tested 3 times for food allergies- he doesn't have any, he did have a sensitivity to a few things but funny enough they were things we don't eat anyhow. As for the slippery slope I never said I cured aspergers, just that my son was better.  I do applaud myself and my husband for working with our son and helping him, as does our family, friends and drs. I have helped others with their asperger children also, telling them things to try that none of the drs ever did- I am very close to one lady whos grandson has autism, for the last 3 years I have been helping them figure out what to do- a month ago for the first time ever they were able to take their 9 yr old grandson out to dinner without a meltdown. My son has aspergers, but for now he doesn't have any signs of aspergers. It is parents who don't/won't work with their children that piss me off, as I said in my previous comment, and as I also said not every disability can be overcome.  BUT most can be helped if the parents and caregivers want to. Â
@MomOf2 Totally agree, the very first thing a parent must do is stop seeing it as and calling it a disability.
Pretty lax supervision of someone with the mentality of a 3rd grader. Changes needed at Wilson High School.
So glad she was found safe!
Make an example of him!
 @Harry reems dude how do you know he even knew she was mentally disabled? All he may have known was he met a girl that wanted to hook up with him. Just because hes a level 1 SO, Does not mean he went looking for this girl and raped her.
@C.c. Regan @Harry reems I can understand what you are saying- I have seen girls tell guys they are older just so they can hook-up, and yes even some girls with a disability can and have done it. BUT this girl has the mentality of a 9 yr old- how many 9 yr old girls do you know want to go have sex with some random guy? It is possible this guy wasn't paying as much attention to the girl as he should have and like you said saw a girl he want to hook up with and when she didn't turn him down he left with her, or it could be that this guy isn't the smartest cookie in the jar and didn't know the girl was disabled, after all no one was watching out for her. Lets all just hope nothing happened to the girl.Â
@C.c. Regan @Harry reems you seem like an offender yourself
@C.c. Regan @Harry reems  hope this never happens to someone you care about.
I bet Ed would like to spend some time alone with this sex offender.Glad you got your daughter back Ed.
 @F4I ...with no recoding devices either....
do hope there is follow up explanation on the lack of supervision for this school outing....especially if they are aware of the limitations of one/some of the attending students.
Det. Troyer puts his LIFE on the Line everyday to help people here in Pierce Co. - They VERY LEAST people could do is show some empathy and respect to a Scared Family. Help spread the info and keep your eyes open - she was found due to a Tip from the Public!!!! I am thrilled she is Safe and appears unharmed (remains to be seen if she was violated in anyway).
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People all over Facebook are btchn about a 430am Call from the School District - She was at a School sanctioned event!!! - that's why the Robo-Call was sent out - so TPS - you can call my ANYTIME to help get info out about a Missing/Endangered CHILD!!!!!
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@_Monte_ I got a call at 4:30, could not get to the phone in time and the robocall did not leave a message. The ONLY complaint I have about the call is the no message. If folks are complaining about getting a call because of a MISSING CHILD they have their priorities seriously out of whack (just my opinion). I will also echo what some others have already said - Ed Troyer is one heck of a guy. I am very glad that his daughter is safe.
My only complaint is they have never Robo-Called for other missing children in Tacoma, only because it was a "cops" daughter did they decided to wake us all up at 4:30 in the morning and as you said didn't leave a message, had this been your or anyone else's kid(s) they wouldn't have done this. Det. Troyer doesn't deserve special treatment over other parents simply because he is a LEO THATS what is aggravating about it!
The call we received (which we returned since no message) was NOT from the school district, it was from the Pierce County Emergency managment Flood Warning center, So tell me since when is a missing child a reason to enact the flood warning system of which I am not even in a flood area to begin with, the whole thing was not handled well if you ask me. Also I do not have children so there is no reason for the "school district" to call me under any circumstances.
 @JFR , I do not believe that the detective received any special treatment since this is the second Amber Alert Robo-Call I have received this year. The only difference is that there was a message with the first call.
I totally agree. A large cause of auto accidents is from people being tired. As a policeman, he should know this. What were we supposed to do at 4:30 in the morning?
 @JFR Again, the reason the we got calls through the School Dist. was because this happened at a school sanctioned event. (Wilson High School Bowling Team, she is a member)
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If it was not related to the School System, and had happened under diff. circumstances, I doubt the calls would've been made with their system....or at all.
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I do not think the Troyer Family was given special treatment.
 @Conservative liberal Ya, people on the Tacoma Schools & other various Tacoma FB (who were sharing the story) pages were complaining about the Calls....pretty sad, if ya ask me....and I do agree, a message, especially in an instance like this would be helpful.
You said that about as well as I could. Pierce County is lucky to have a man like Troyer on the PC Sherriff's staff. I was shocked when I found out this morning and am so relieved that she was found safe. I'm sure more details will come out about what happened.