# Amber Alert Ends In Tragedy. Was It The Cause?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amber-alert-ends-in-tragedy-was-it-the-cause/313138>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 19, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amber-alert-ends-in-tragedy-was-it-the-cause/313138 "2005-07-19T14:29:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amber-alert-ends-in-tragedy-was-it-the-cause/313138/21 "2005-07-19T23:03:26Z")

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> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#):
>
> Those reports had been denied later, but not until after I had read the story. I made good faith efforts to check other news sources. My question was not hysterical, but quite justified, given the information that had been released to the public.

Justified? The article that your OP cites indicates the bare facts that the boy was found AND that the people in the SUV that were being investigated were no longer suspects.

At the very least, you have established a lengthy track record of drawing incorrect conclusions on touchy subjects based on breaking news reports and then posting misleading OPs. What can we learn from this? Perhaps to wait until more information is available rather than drawing the most damning of conclusions? Is that too much to ask?

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**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amber-alert-ends-in-tragedy-was-it-the-cause/313138/22 "2005-07-20T01:44:21Z")

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Bosda,

It sometimes seems that you try to be the first to post about something bad. Like Tuckerfan and space or Eve and dead old celebs, you are the town cryer for this sort of thing.  
Your ‘calm’ hypothetical question of “Did the Amber Alert push the kidnappers to kill the child?” is not reasonable. You throw into question what many people believe is the best hope during a kidnapping. Doing this when the story is still breaking news, is premature. You want people to draw conclusions about an incident that isn’t over. This is like feeling hot in a crowded theatre and yelling “FIRE?”.

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amber-alert-ends-in-tragedy-was-it-the-cause/313138/23 "2005-07-20T17:55:09Z")

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No matter how hot it gets you cannot call people’s attention to the possibility that there is a fire because they might panic, the same as the police can’t mention that a child is missing because it might panic her kidnapper.

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**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amber-alert-ends-in-tragedy-was-it-the-cause/313138/24 "2005-07-20T18:41:11Z")

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You can call fire in a theatre if there is one.

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**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amber-alert-ends-in-tragedy-was-it-the-cause/313138/25 "2005-07-20T19:05:48Z")

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> [@Uncommon Sense](#):
>
> I too, think the OP was pretty tame and the response in question was over the top.

Me too. I don’t really think this OP was over the top.

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