Police find child sought in Amber Alert

Law enforcement spent Friday morning searching for a Sikeston man that police believe abducted his 1-year-old son and wife from an area gas station.

Dallis M. Harris, 1, and Samantha R. Harris, 22, were recovered during a vehicle stop on Interstate 44 near Cuba, Mo., according to Scott City officer Jessica Martin.

Phillip M. Harris, 23, was believed to have abducted his wife and son from Rhodes Travel Center on Nash Road, police said.

An Amber Alert was issued shortly after 9 a.m. Friday, but Samantha and Dallis Harris had been last seen on Thursday.

Martin said police were not releasing any further information about the incident pending further investigation.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.comA digital message sign on Interstate 55 warns motorists of a child abduction Friday, January 6, 2009, north of Jackson.

"I'm really not sure how long this investigation will continue," Martin said.

Bobbi Inskeep, mother of Phillip Harris, and Amber Street, sister of Phillip Harris, said they spoke with Samantha and Phillip on Friday morning, while they were on the road.

Street said Samantha Harris sent her text messages throughout the morning Friday asking her to look up directions to various locations on MapQuest.

When Street learned of the Amber Alert, she said she called Samantha Harris and asked her if she felt she had been been abducted.

"She said, no, I want to be here," Street said.

Street said she did not believe Dallis Harris was in any danger during the incident.

Inskeep said she spoke to Phillip Harris, and said she'd heard Samantha Harris laughing in the background when she learned of the news reports describing the Amber Alert.

"She said, no, I went on my own," Inskeep said.

Attempts to reach Samantha Harris on a cell phone Friday were unsuccessful.

Some states, such as California and New Mexico, have laws prohibiting Amber Alerts from being issued if the child is believed to have been abducted by a family member.

Missouri's law requires that Amber Alerts issued because of a family dispute apply only in the case that the law enforcement agency has reason to believe the child may be in danger.

An Amber Alert form must be submitted to state officials by local law enforcement and evaluated to see if it meets with established criteria before it can be issued.

"We get these requests all the time, and we don't do that many of them," said Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Kim Hull, state Amber Alert coordinator for Missouri.

Because the circumstances surrounding such a request are usually extremely emotional for the parties reporting the missing child, sometimes it difficult to get a "straight story," Hull said.

"It puts law enforcement agencies in a bad situation to have to make a decision," Hull said.

Scott City supplied information that Phillip Harris had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for endangering child welfare, and that Samantha Harris had not gone along with him willingly, Hull said.

"Under those circumstances, it met our criteria," Hull said.

As of 6 p.m. Friday, it could not be confirmed whether Phillip Harris had been placed in custody.