San Francisco

Boy at Center of Amber Alert Reunited With Mom in San Francisco

A 21-month-old boy at the center of a state-wide Amber Alert Friday was reunited with his mother in San Francisco Saturday night, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.

The boy, who was reported missing Thursday, was located the following day in Los Angeles after being taken by 30-year-old Jason Lam, who shared custody with the boy's mother, according to the district attorney's office.

Two members of the district attorney's office flew to Los Angeles to retrieve the boy. They reunited him with his mother in San Francisco just before 8 p.m. Saturday.

Sandra Machado, a case manager for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department's Survivor Restoration Program, spoke on behalf of the mother. Through Machado, the mother expressed sincere gratitude to the list of law enforcement agencies, news outlets and people on social media who helped locate her son.

"Thank you all for helping in getting my son back," the mother's statement read. "Thank you all from the bottom of my heart."

Alex Bastian from the San Francisco District Attorney's Office expressed a similar sentiment.

"We're very happy," he said. "For us, anytime we have a child that comes back to the loving arms of his mother, we're ecstatic and all the hard work, this is what it's all about."

After Lam failed to return the boy to his mother, the mother was able to get her hands on a court order indicating that she had sole physical custody of the child, according to Bastian. Authorities then commenced an investigation and found that Lam had been acting erratically as of late. That's when they worked on activating an Amber Alert.

Security footage captured inside a Menlo Park store Thursday recorded Lam and the boy walking around. Several hours later, a ping from Lam's cell phone alerted police to his new location in Southern California, according to the California Highway Patrol.

After the Amber Alert reached the southern portion of the state, a shopper recognized Lam's car and called police. He was later detained roughly six-hours after the Amber Alert was activated.

Contact Us