ODOT crew, citizens help police catch fleeing mother, boyfriend
By Kate Paul, KTVZ.COM and news sources
Oregon's 14th AMBER Alert activation since the program's inception six years ago culminated Wednesday with the safe recovery of a 5-year old boy taken from a foster care home in Hines hours earlier and the arrest of two suspects in the abduction - his mother and her boyfriend.
The voluntary partnership between law enforcement agencies and broadcasters to disseminate an urgent bulletin helped generate three known sightings before law enforcement agencies stopped the suspect vehicle across the Oregon/Nevada border.
On Wednesday at around 10 a.m., an AMBER Alert was activated in Oregon at the request of Harney County Sheriff's Office to help find Masson Weller, who was taken from a Hines foster home by his biological mother, Myranda Elaine Denny, 27. The boy was in foster care with members fo Denny's family, officials said.
Officials believed the boy was endangered and was driven from the area in a black 1995 Toyota Camry four door with Oregon license plates 182 CYE. An adult male identified as Mark Steven Arey, 48, from Eugene, was with Denny.
Police say Denny and Arey are dangerous, hard drug users.
"Both of them have extensive criminal history," said Harney County sheriff's Sgt. Brian Needham. "But I'm not sure what they've been arrested for in the past."
Prior to the AMBER Alert activation, police agencies in Oregon, Idaho and Nevada were notified of the vehicle, suspect and child information. Oregon Department of Transportation, a partner in the AMBER Alert program, also notified their area employees by radio.
"At that point all of the local law enforcement was notified," said Needham. "We then notified all of the surrounding enforcement."
Masson Weller hugs 'Buzz' after alleged abduction (Photo courtesy Harney County Sheriff Dave Glerup)
OSP troopers out of Bend, Burns and Prineville quickly covered about 130 miles of highway between Bend and Burns.
Deputies from counties including Harney and Deschutes, along with officers from various city police agencies also checked roadways in an attempt to find the vehicle and child.
Two OSP Fish & Wildlife Division aircraft were dispatched from the Willamette Valley and Baker City to help check some of the remote highways leading out of the Burns area that couldn't be covered as quickly by ground units.
At the request of the Harney County Sheriff's Office, personnel from the OSP Criminal Investigations Division staffed a tip center in the Salem-area to handle calls related to the activation.
According to the OSP Southern Command Center (SCC) that handles dispatching responsibilities for OSP in that section of Oregon, three calls were received spotting the vehicle heading southbound on Highway 205 toward Nevada.
The first call came in at 9:40 a.m. from an ODOT flagger at a highway construction zone advising the suspect vehicle was seen about thirty minutes prior southbound on Highway 205 near milepost 25.
The second report came in at 9:55 a.m. from an ODOT employee advising the suspect vehicle was southbound north of Frenchglen near milepost 38.
A third report from a private citizen at 10:18 a.m. advised the suspect vehicle was southbound from Fields, Oregon.
SCC notified Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) and Humboldt County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) of the sightings. NHP troopers and HCSO deputies raced north toward the border to locate the suspect vehicle.
OSP Sergeant Brian Williams and Harney County Sheriff Dave Glerup sped south from the Burns area in separate vehicles after the first report to try and overtake the suspect vehicle.
The suspect vehicle was first spotted by US Fish & Wildlife Officer Chris Johnson on Highway 205 south of Denio and turned around to follow it while NHP and HCSO officers tried to overtake it.
Apparently spotting the US Fish & Wildlife officer following, the suspect vehicle turned around and began to head northbound. Johnson was asked to stop the suspect vehicle as deputies and troopers were catching up.
NHP troopers and HCSO deputies arrived where the suspect vehicle was stopped and subsequently took the two suspects into custody and recovered the child safely about an hour after the AMBER Alert activation. Sheriff Glerup and OSP Sergeant Williams arrived shortly after the stop to provide information as it developed.
Two OSP detectives responded to Winnemucca for follow up investigation and assist with the child's recovery. DHS officials took the child back to Harney County, while the suspects are in jail in Winnemucca,
"Great job done by all," said OSP East Region Captain Travis Hampton. "I'm not sure what the resolution would have been, if not for the professionalism of all the combined agencies and concerned citizens."
This was the first activation of Oregon's AMBER Alert program in eastern Oregon since the program began late 2002. Since the program started, 16 children have been safely recovered in Oregon.
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Here's the earlier information about the AMBER Alert, the boy and suspected abductors:
The boy, Masson Weller, has sandy-colored hair, blue eyes and was wearing a white T-shirt, blue pajama pants and no shoes, officers said. He is described as a white male, 3-foot-8 and 45 pounds.
The boy has been living in foster care, under state custody, and allegedly was taken by his birth mother, Myranda Elane Denny, who has lived in the Springfield area.
She is described as 27 years old, 5-foot-5 and 155 pounds, with strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, missing teeth and a cracked front tooth. She was wearing jeans, a dark T-shirt and knee-high boots over the jeans.
Police say she has a history of drug use and abandonment issues. Both Denny and a male companion are suspected meth and heroin users.
Officers were alerted to be on the lookout for a black four-door 1995 Toyota Camry, Oregon license plate 182 CYE.
The car possibly is heading to Bend or Springfield, and Denny is believed to be with a male driver named Mark William Ayres, 24, 5-foot-7 and 135 pounds, with long salt-and-pepper hair and a mustache.
A small white shi tszu dog named "Buzz" also was in the car.
Later dispatch reports monitored by news partner KBND Radio indicated police might have located and be following the suspect car, which could be heading south toward Nevada.
But State Police said there was no confirmed direction of travel. Anyone with information was asked to call 911 immediately or Salem dispatch at 1-866-5-AMBER-5.
