JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the Northeast Florida community cheered the safe recovery of 7-year-old Bryan Williamson Monday, questions remained about the accuracy of the Amber Alert system after investigators originally gave the public incorrect information.
Viewers even called News4Jax Sunday night about the initial description for Bryan, because the information provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement did not match the picture released by authorities after the boy was reported missing out of Madison County, Florida.
Eventually, FDLE investigators corrected the description of Bryan, who was found safe on Jacksonville's Westside, 100 miles from his home.
Investigators are trying to find out what exactly happened with the early misinformation.
The original Amber Alert that rattled cellphones throughout Florida at 9:24 p.m. Sunday said Bryan had blonde hair and blue eyes. But based on the picture released, he clearly has brown hair and brown eyes. News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said the Amber Alert is a powerful tool, but it's not a perfect science.
“Any number of things could have happened,” Smith said. “It could have been the parent or someone familiar with the child may have provided incorrect information, or it could have been a typographical error of typing in the wrong eye color. Any one of those things could have happened.”
FDLE investigators also gave out the wrong name of the child, originally calling him Bryan Williams, instead of Bryan Williamson. FDLE corrected his name and his description almost an hour and a half after its original notification.
“It seems like a long time, an hour and 24 minutes, but it really isn’t a long time,” Smith said. “You're dealing with so much. You have police officers in that immediate area searching. They don’t just put out an Amber Alert and let it go. They are always bringing in more information. Maybe he was wearing something different, so they take their time to make sure they have accurate information.”
The FDLE released a statement about the Amber Alert mistakes:
"Preliminary information was received from investigators on the scene including the child's name and clothing. The child's name, Bryan Williamson, was corrected prior to release of the initial AMBER Alert Flyer."
In two high-profile missing child cases in Jacksonville, misinformation was also initially released by authorities. In the Lonzie Barton case, the missing toddler was initially identified as Aaron Ebron. That information was corrected by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in just over half an hour.
Abducted 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle, who was raped and murdered, was initially identified as Charish Perriwinkle. That information was not corrected until after the girl's body was found in a wooded area behind a Northside church.