The story that hasn't been told in Tulsa's Amber Alert on February 10th: The 911 operators who played a crucial role in the search for two missing babies.
Often dispatchers don’t have closure when they hang up from a caller who needs help. A week after the Amber Alert the 911 dispatchers met the two girls and their parents.
“We are here, we can’t be out looking for them. We have to be taking the calls,” said Dispatcher Jo Ann Barnes.
She answered the call when mother, Tiama Brown, called for help.
A truck thief stole the dark blue Ford F-150 with a one-year-old and five-month-old inside the pickup.
Two hours later the girls were found but for a week 911 dispatcher Jo Ann Barnes couldn’t forget about the Amber Alert call.
Barnes: “Police Department”
(inaudible)She kept her cool and calmed the mother.
Barnes: “Do me a big favor and take a deep breath.”
Mother: “They just took my babies.”Brown was finally able to tell the dispatcher a thief stole her truck with her two girls in the pickup.
“My heart just dropped,” said Barnes.
For two hours the entire 911 dispatch center answered call after call about a thief who swept away two babies in east Tulsa.
“Everybody sat, they didn’t’ want to move. They wanted to hear about the kids,” said Barnes. “It was very tense down here, it was very tense down here.”
Exactly one week later Barnes was introduced to the girls.
With their mom and dad, baby sisters Sariah, 1, and Zayveah, five-months old, met the woman behind the voice.
“You are so sweet,” said Barnes.
About an hour after the auto theft, Zayveah was found on a doorstep in the 2400 block E. Newton Street and moments later Sariah was found alone in a bush at a north Tulsa church near 2400 East Admiral Place.
“Everbybody was hooting and hollering and crying and everyone was so thrilled,” said Barnes.
However, Barnes kept thinking about the girls.
“We’ve thought about these kids and how you guys were,” said Barnes.
It’s in those rare moments where dispatchers find closure.
“This is closure to me," said Barnes.
"You are so cute, you are so precious," said Barnes. “This is closure to me."
It was an emotional reunion for all the dispatchers.
“When they confirmed they found them I started bawling. He [officer] was like 'breath. 'Anita breath,'” said dispatcher Anita Robbins.
Many of the dispatchers have been taking calls for several years. In Barnes' 12-year-career as a dispatcher she said she will never forget that night.
“This is something that will stay with me for a very ,very very long time,” said Barnes.
The thief ditched the dark blue Ford F-150 in the 1900 block of E. Marshall the next morning.
Police searched the pickup for evidence and it was returned to the family on Thursday.
Police are still searching for the suspect. He’s described as a heavy set Hispanic male in his 30’s about six-feet tall.
If you have any information about this crime or any crime call Crime Stoppers at (918) 596-COPS (2677) or text a tip to “CRIMES” (274637) and begin your message with “TIP918” or you can submit a tip online at
www.tipsubmit.com. Remember you never have to give your name and your tip could lead to a cash reward.
