VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach Police Department detailed what triggered the Ashanti Alert for Marie Covington, a woman found dead in Norfolk late Saturday night.
To issue an Ashanti Alert, investigators needed to provide certain information to Virginia State Police.
Virginia Beach police spokesman Lt. Brad Wesseler said investigators found Covington dead two days after her family reported her missing on Thursday night.
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“They informed the officer that Covington was last seen on Wednesday just prior to 10 p.m. and that started our investigation into this matter,” Lt. Wesseler said.
That’s when he said police officers entered Covington’s information into their database as a missing person.
Then, on early Saturday morning, Virginia State Police pulled over Gary Morton in Chesapeake.
“When the troopers looked into it they saw some suspicious circumstances and they also noted that the car was identified with Covington who was listed in our database as missing,” Lt. Wesseler said. “So that really ramped up our investigation and things started to unfold very quickly at that point.”
After an interview with Morton and a look at evidence inside the car, Lt. Wesseler said they had the information they needed to ask Virginia State Police for an Ashanti Alert.
“There is certain criteria we have to work within,” Lt. Wesseler said. “The individual has to be 18 or older, they have to have unusual circumstances or special needs, they have to be missing, endangered or they have to meet several other criteria.”
He said the criteria process helps make sure the Ashanti Alert is issued correctly.
"It is ultimately the Virginia State Police who serves as clearing house who distributes the Ashanti Alert," Lt. Wesseler said. "We may see it as something, they may see it as otherwise. It's very important when we issue these and we want the community to respect them, don’t want them to become immune.”
Lt. Wesseler said the department is reviewing this missing persons case, a common practice, to see what investigators did well and where they can improve.
“We will conduct an internal inquiry look at how everything was handled and see if there is anything concerning for us, or if we did well, we want to notate that,” Lt. Wesseler said.
Lt. Wesseler also wants to remind people in the community that there is no waiting period required to report someone missing. He urges people to call the police as soon as they can.