Concerns over Missing 12-Year-Old: Hall County Sheriff's Office Statement

Maria Gomez-Perez was last seen around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 29, at her home on Westside Drive off of Pearl Nix Parkway in Gainesville.Photo byHall County Sheriff's Office/Facebook

The recent disappearance and ongoing search for a 12-year-old Gainesville girl has raised community concern. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office has also faced criticism over its response to the case.

Maria Gomez-Perez has been missing for nearly a week. On Monday, the sheriff’s office issued a statement addressing those concerns and critics. Now, Habersham is running the statement below in its entirety.

“The Hall County Sheriff’s Office is aware of the high level of community concern about the disappearance of 12-year-old Maria Gomez-Perez of Gainesville, and we want to emphasize to our citizens that we, too, are extremely concerned about Maria’s well-being.
While we cannot share every detail of our investigation in this case, we would like to answer some concerns we have read on social media and received via email and phone calls.

In answer to a frequently asked question about the case, HCSO investigators did absolutely reach out to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to request a Levi’s Call, Georgia’s version of the Amber Alert. After a review of the facts of the case with GBI officials, the GBI determined that Maria’s case did not meet the following three out of five activation criteria.

1. Law enforcement officials have a reasonable belief that an abduction has occurred.

2. Law enforcement officials believe that the child is in imminent danger or serious bodily injury or death.

3. Enough descriptive information exists about the victim and the abductor for law enforcement to issue a Levi’s Call.

https://gbi.georgia.gov/services/georgias-public-alert-system/levis-call

When Levi’s Call requests are denied, the GBI routinely offers and provides a Media Advisory. GBI disseminated a Media Advisory on behalf of HCSO and Maria to metro and north Georgia broadcast partners over the weekend with contact information for new information and tips.

To date, three tips have been received via 911 as a result of the advisory and HCSO social media posts. Law enforcement, including HCSO and the Gainesville Police Department, immediately acted on each of them with negative results in the effort to find Maria.

Many have made accusations that the Hall County Sheriff’s Office is doing minimal work in trying to find Maria. To the contrary, we have a team of investigators who have been, and are continuing to, diligently work this case. Our goal is to bring Maria home and ensure she is safe. We know the community wants that, too.

One way you can help is by using proper avenues to report tips. Social media is not the most reliable way to communicate with our investigators. Instead, anonymous tips may be called in to 770-503-3232; those tips go directly to our Special Investigations Unit (SIU). Email tips may go to intelrequest@hallcounty.org. You may certainly continue to use 911 or 770-536-8812.

Please continue to keep Maria in your prayers as we continue to investigate her whereabouts.”