Seen On

Pallas Hupe Investigates: Amber Alert

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ― In March, we witnessed the first Amber Alert in California ever to end tragically with a child murdered. We asked then what went wrong and now we want to know if it's been fixed. Tonight, two months after the incident we get answers.

"I can't conceive of what happened," says Elinor Melson, Andrew's grandmother.

On March 15th, two-year-old Andrew Bailey was killed, investigators say, by his own father – using a screwdriver as a murder weapon. 50-year-old Charles Bailey is also accused of attacking Andrew's mother with an axe before kidnapping the little boy.

"What a cutie, he's just a little cutie, she wrapped her life around him and was a 24/7 mom,' explains Elinor.

Yet it took authorities close to three hours after the attack to finally issue an Amber Alert for little Andrew.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Department admits it has problems.

"The Amber Alert process is a very complex system from our end to work with," explains Sgt. Byers. "It's a process that we're not as familiar with as we should be."

That's bad enough, but the bigger problem that day was the Sheriff's Department says the missing child did not fit their guidelines for abduction.

Sgt. Bryan Golmitz says El Dorado County guidelines did not classify a father taking his own son without permission as kidnapping. Even though the state's Amber Alert guidelines clearly states that it is.

Golmitz admits the attack was "a very violent incident, very violent."

But he says in their department's experience, a dad killing his own son is so rare that's not the first conclusion they drew that day.

"The violence was isolated to the spouses, not directed to the children," says Sgt. Golmitz.

The first call for help came at 6:50 a.m. Over the next hour, four more "be on the lookout" alerts would be made, including statements that Bcailey may have a child with him and that he allegedly attacked his girlfriend with an axe. But even after all that, it wasn't until after 9 a.m. that a CHP officer suggested an Amber Alert should be issued. The request had to be routed through the local office of Emergency Services. By the time that was done, it was 9:40 a.m., nearly three hours after the first call for help.

The Sheriff's Department says those last checks and balances in the Amber Alert system slowed them down.

We now know the County's abduction guidelines have changed to make it clear a parent taking a child without permission is considered abduction, just as it is in the state's Amber Alert guidelines.

The CHP says it reviewed what led up to the Amber Alert activation with El Dorado County authorities afterward.

Lt. LD Maples is in charge of coordinating the State's Amber Alert system. He describes it as a 'system of systems' with no one gate keeper. Agencies are sensitive about their boundaries.

Maples explains the CHP's main role in Amber Alerts is clear cut: coordination and activation of Emergency Alert System.

"Officers first have to double check the case meets Amber Alert Criteria," explains Maples.

Then they pass it on the National Weather Service which then contacts the media, which sends out the alerts.

The CHP also contacts Caltrans, which activates their Changeable Message Signs.

We wanted to talk to Caltrans about reported problems streamlining their systems but they backed out, saying they weren't comfortable answering those questions. All they would say is it only takes on average it only takes about five minutes for an Amber Alert to appear on their signs, but they still want to upgrade that system.

The Amber Alert Manual clearly states: "time is the enemy." According to the U.S. Department of Justice, most kids who were abducted then killed were killed within the first three hours of abduction -- killed like little Andrew Bailey.

Now in Andrew Bailey's case, Officer Golmitz believes the Amber Alert delay didn't affect the outcome.

"Truthfully, it wouldn't have made a difference in this case," he says.

And Lt. Maples believes the Amber Alert system didn't fail.

"The system -- the activation -- worked, within 20 minutes we had all information we needed," says Maples.

But clearly critical changes needed to be made to El Dorado County's guidelines, and they're promising that should solve the problem.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)