Authorities recover missing Fall River child in Alabama; mother arrested

Authorities on Tuesday recovered a missing child from Fall River, Massachusetts, in Etowah County, Alabama and arrested his mother, according to a news release from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA).

Genezza Packett, 22, and her 1-year-son were in a vehicle that was stopped about 10:15 a.m. on Interstate 59 near Attalla, Alabama.

According to the release, ALEA received a law enforcement bulletin about the case from the Fall River Police Department on June 21.

The bulletin indicated that Packett's aunt had custody of the child, and Packett was visiting him. She told her aunt she was taking him to Dunkin' Donuts, but they never returned.

Authorities surmised they were traveling toward Mississippi. ALEA's Fusion Center, which aggregates information from federal, state and local government, private sector entities and the intelligence community, relayed that information to state troopers, who ultimately located and stopped the vehicle.

Packett faces pending criminal charges in Fall River.

ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor said the collaboration and communication between Fusion Center intelligence analysts and state troopers, and with authorities in other states, helped resolve the case and demonstrated the value of sharing intelligence in law enforcement.