A Turquoise Alert went out for 4-year-old Ezekiel Siutza after he vanished Sunday afternoon in Mesa, last seen near Extension Road and 8th Avenue around 3 p.m. Police say he was reportedly seen with an unknown white female with red hair, though who she is and how the boy came to leave with her remain a mystery.
What Mesa Police Know So Far
According to FOX 10 Phoenix, Siutza was last seen leaving the area of Extension Road and 8th Avenue in Mesa at 3 p.m. Sunday. Mesa police describe him as 3 feet tall, weighing 54 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, and say he was wearing a black shirt, black pants, and camouflage-colored Crocs when he disappeared.
Investigators have said plainly that they do not yet know the circumstances surrounding the child's disappearance, nor the identity of the person he reportedly left with. The Arizona Department of Public Safety said the alert was geo-targeted to the area where Siutza was last seen. Anyone with information on the incident or the boy's whereabouts is asked to call 911.
How the Turquoise Alert System Works
Arizona's Turquoise Alert system is built as a quick-response mechanism that the Department of Public Safety is required to establish in order to issue and coordinate alerts once a missing-person report comes in, according to the Arizona Legislature. The Arizona Department of Public Safety says the alert can apply to a reported missing endangered person under age 65, including tribal members, when specific activation criteria are met.
The alert itself grew out of efforts to draw attention to missing members of federally recognized tribes before later becoming all-inclusive under legislation known as Emily's Law, per a report from Tucson.com. That same report found that all five Turquoise Alert cases issued the prior year ended with missing children located safely.
Mixed Outcomes in Other Recent Cases
This year's track record has been less uniformly positive. The Tucson.com report noted three Turquoise Alerts so far, including the safe recovery of a 13-year-old, while Isabella Comas, an Avondale woman, remained missing and 8-year-old Maleeka “Mollie” Boone, a Navajo girl, was found dead in a field. In one of those cases, a Turquoise Alert issued June 23 led to the safe location of a 13-year-old the following morning in the Globe-Miami area, after the teen had gone missing near a Circle K in Apache Junction roughly five days earlier.
For now, the search for Ezekiel Siutza continues, with Mesa police and state authorities relying on the public for tips. Anyone with information is urged to contact 911.
