Amber Alert canceled after missing girl is found safe
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.
I'm glad she was found and returned to her family. To many time these stories have a sad ending. I just hope he did nothing to hurt her.
Given the circumstance, I'm assuming that the use of the term 'safe' in the headline is subjective (at best).
If I was responsible for a 16-year-old girl with the mental age of a 9-year-old I would keep a close eye on her. I hope the coach or supervisor is severely, and I mean SEVERELY, reprimanded.
@Old29 For a public employee, severely reprimanded will probably mean his/her superior telling him/her, "please don't do that again, or we'll have to ask you to not do that again".
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racist much?
@2easy2berightback
You mean another example of the criminal nature of sex offenders. There are plenty of white sex offenders around, too.
 @2easy2berightback prejudice much?
On the flip side People with mental availabilities seek the same thing we all want. To be loved and to be understood. so often people will take advantage of that to.
Just How many dang stories will it take of 21 1 year old males and females having sex with 16 year old males and females (Which under WA state law does make the age of 16 consensual How ever parents can take person to court if they so chose)
This is definitely a call-out that the coaches need to be with the teams until the last kid has gone - either picked up by parent or they have their own transportation, as designated by the signed team sheets. And there needs to be two coaches - not just one.Â
 @washcomom I imagine that Briana's special needs put her in a more vulnerable position than the other 16yr olds, not that they didn't have enough supervision under the circumstances. She may have gone to use the restroom and been lured away.
a fugly creep
"He's a Level 1 sex offender who left a Tacoma bowling alley Tuesday with the girl."
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Maybe this guy needs to be a level 2.
 @RalphCramden "Level up"!Â
 @washcomomÂ
Not sure what you are saying. Level 1 is the lest likely to offend. A level 2 is worse and a level 3 is at high risk of reoffending.
 @washcomomÂ
Ok, that makes sense.
Â
He really should move up a notch. He seems like he is a predator.
 @RalphCramden Since he violated the Level 1 dynamics, he has definitely gone up a level - or two. That's why I said, "Level up".
@RalphCramden @washcomom well he just passed level 2, so let's put him up to level 3 now....my opinion....
Word is they just found her and she appears to be fine!
Shouldn't be too hard to find. Black man with blonde hair and a beer belly.
This does not have signs of ending well.