Local law enforcement ready for child abduction cases
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Law enforcement agencies across the state breathed a sigh of relief Thursday as a man accused of killing his wife and kidnapping his young daughter in Knoxville was captured and the girl found safe. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation credits a multi-state Amber Alert with the quick find. The alert was issued for 2-year-old Brooklynne Enix on Wednesday. She was found safe Thursday morning thanks to a vigilant driver in rural Ohio. It was a rapid and vast response that local law enforcement here in West Tennessee said they’re all too prepared for. “This worked out as well as we could have hoped for as far as these Amber Alerts go,” said Susan Niland, public information officer with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The TBI said the driver was listening to the Amber Alert on the radio and then realized he was driving behind Brooklynne Enix and her father. “He was able to call 911, and authorities responded quickly,” Niland said. “They were able to take Mr. Enix into custody without any kind of incident.” It’s a successful capture that law enforcement officers say they strive for in cases like this. “Urgency is swiftness,” Madison County Sherff’s Office Public Information Officer Tom Mapes said. “We want to be as quick as we can because time is our greatest enemy, and you have to respond as fast as you can.” In West Tennessee, officers have more resources than ever to find endangered children with the creation of a new Child Abduction Response Team. “We go after the missing kids and the people that have abducted them just like a SWAT team would,” Mapes said. It’s a combined effort by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson Police Department, Madison County Fire Department and Emergency Management. “You plug in all the volunteers and we’ve got hundreds,” Mapes said. “So this is going to be a massive effort, but that’s what you need in a case like this. You have to respond quickly and strongly.” Just like other agencies across the state, they began looking for Brooklynne Enix. “We were put on immediate alert,” Mapes said. “This case, we had a description of the car and we knew what to look for.” Although she wasn’t found here, agencies said it was the added effort that made it happen. “Having a lot of ears and eyes out is helpful in being able to make an immediate arrest like this was,” Niland said. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office said they haven’t had to deploy their new abduction team for anyone here in West Tennessee just yet but said they’re ready if it happens. The TBI said Tyler Enix is currently being interviewed by Ohio law enforcement authorities. He is charged with first-degree murder by the Knoxville Police Department.
