NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — We're getting answers on why it took authorities so long to issue a critically missing adult alert for a 50-year-old Newport News mother missing since October.
Virginia State Police (VSP) issued a critically missing adult alert for Sherree Brown on Monday, but her loved ones say they reported her missing on Oct. 24 and haven't seen her since Oct. 17.
Family members have questioned why it took authorities more than a month to issue that alert, which is also known as the Ashanti Alert. Brown's father Darrel Brown said loved ones are especially concerned about Sherree's disappearance because she has cancer and needs chemotherapy and medication.
Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said ultimately, it all boils down to the criteria needed to issue a critically missing adult alert also known as an Ashanti Alert.
He noted Newport News has upwards of 138 missing persons reports so far this year and certain conditions must be met before any of those cases can be elevated to an Ashanti Alert by VSP. And, he said, not every missing person case meets that criteria.
For an Ashanti Alert to be issued by VSP, Drew said police must show the missing person is in immediate danger or is a danger to themselves or others.
He said ultimately, Brown's reliance on certain medications was the reason detectives needed to ask VSP to issue the Ashanti Alert.
“There were multiple medications for this illnesses, some things that she’s battling - and because now it’s been a couple weeks, several weeks, we believe that was enough to go forward and say, ‘Now we believe that she could be in danger without that medication,'" Drew said. "It's been so long without that medication. You could go a while without it. But because it's been several weeks that was the angle that we used, that we could certainly verify, and say that this is a concern for us."
Brown's family members made an emotional plea for Brown to return home, outside police headquarters. They say they want authorities to do more to find their missing loved one.
Her daughter A'Lexus Gibbs said it is out of character for her mother to go this long without contacting family.
"My mother was calling every single day before she went missing. Now all of a sudden, after that day I talked to her on October 17th, I haven't heard from my mother ever again since that day," Gibbs said. "It breaks me every day because I'm not able to hear my mother's voice on the phone. It hurts even more because Monday is my birthday and my mother calls me at 12:00 every year on my birthday to wish me a happy birthday and I'm not going to be able to get that this year."
Sherree Brown's mother, Sharon Sanford Brown said her daughter's disappearance is concerning because her daughter left behind important items.
“Her wallet, her pocketbook, her driver's license, her debit card was all left on the bed in the apartment," she said.
Drew said he understands the family's pain and frustration and detectives are working to locate Brown. He said officers have canvassed places she's known to frequent, spoken with people who know her, and contacted the FBI and Homeland Security.
He said officers are committed to locating Sherree Brown and have worked long hours on the case. For one detective in the Department, Drew said, this is his only case.
“The number one priority for me and this department is to find her," Drew said. "Until I find Ms. Brown, until the department, until the city…I'm not going to leave anything unturned."
The chief said authorities haven’t gotten any calls about Sherree Brown in response to the Ashanti Alert, just yet, but that hasn’t stopped the investigation. He said detectives are following new leads that developed in the past 48 hours.