Amber Alert should have been better reported.

Last Tuesday the Massachusetts State Police issued an Amber alert for two children taken by their father.

As with all such amber alerts the public should be wary of what is being alleged, a parent kidnapping their own child is a bizarre allegation without sufficient facts to back it up.

During the first day the media alleged that the father had lost custody of his children in a contested divorce case, and published no specifics.

I enquired about this allegation and asked what their research had found.  It turns out there was no research, the allegation was untrue.

Jon Lockwood was an unmarried father; he had brought his children to the US from Vietnam looking for a better life.  The mother had agreed to the move.  Mr. Lockwood had obtained passports for his children for the trip to the US, according to Mr. Lockwood’s relatives.

Apparently he was unaware of the requirements of obtaining custody of his children, through the state, a requirement that is one of the benefits of marriage.

Mr. Lockwood was raising his children and living in a motel, when a dispute arose regarding the amount of payment for the motel room, the motel management notified DCF.  When Mr. Lockwood left his children alone, DCF intervened and took custody of them.  That was in January of 2012.

Since that time DCF attempted to place the children with the mother, rather than help Mr. Lockwood.  The mother came to the US, but did not wish for the children to be returned to Vietnam.

On the second day of reporting the media claimed that DCF would be issuing a statement on the case.  I was unable to find any reporting of an actual statement being released by DCF.

Based on what facts I have been unable to uncover regarding this case there doesn’t appear to be any reason for Mr. Lockwood and his children to be treated in the manner they were.

As a case in the Juvenile Court system facts pertaining to it are hard to come by.  The Juvenile Court is not an open court.  The argument for such lack of transparency  is to protect the participants, however it is often unclear which participants are being referred to, is the families themselves or the courts and the state agents.

The media has steadfastly refused to report clearly on this case.  They erroneously reported a divorce, which could have been checked , they alleged forthcoming statements from DCF, and then either ignored them or did not report them.

I do not claim to know all of the facts of this case, I am simply a blogger not a reporter.  I do know that the media has smeared this man through shoddy reporting which any editor should have caught before the story went to print.

I do hope people chose to contact public officials in this case to clarify what is going on.  I further hope DCF will issue the promised statement regarding this case and that such a statement gives some reason for the manner by which these children have been treated.