A South Miami mother who was the subject of a missing persons alert with her daughter last weekend said police were too quick to sound the alarm.
Christine Betancourt said she left South Florida for a trip to Disney World before a judge signed an order last Friday saying her daughter should be immediately with her father. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a missing child alert over the weekend for the 3-year-old.
Her attorney moved to delay that custody exchange, but South Miami Police issued an alert for the pair before a judge could grant an extension until Tuesday afternoon.
That’s when the mother complied and brought the girl to her father.
The Hurricane season is on. Our meteorologists are ready. Sign up for the NBC 6 Weather newsletter to get the latest forecast in your inbox.
"No kidnapping or interference with child custody occurred in this case," said Sam Rabin, Betancourt's attorney. "There was no criminal conduct nor criminal act and that’s why Ms. Betancourt wasn’t charged with a crime. Events were set in motion by a false missing persons report that should not have been made."
"I was not contacted by the police. There was not a well-check, nothing was done and the falsified missing person report reached the level it did and it even maintained and was upheld even after he had been notified," Betancourt said. "I was fine and my mother had notified the police that my daughter and I were fine."
Betancourt said she will file an internal affairs complaint with South Miami Police. The department declined to answer NBC6's questions, only saying they did their job and the child is safe.
Local
The father’s attorney said they had no idea where the mother and daughter were, and the dad filed the missing persons report because the judge had signed the pick-up order — which the mother and her attorney concede was in effect for three days while they were in central Florida.
