A 10-year-old Wisconsin girl who was the subject of an AMBER Alert was found dead, said police.
Kodie B. Dutcher, of Baraboo, was found near a county highway in the city, officials told TMJ4 and WEAU-TV. No other details were released, officials said.
She was found dead less than a mile away from her home, the Baraboo Police Department said.
An AMBER Alert was issued on Monday night after she was seen earlier in the day.
Officials had said that Kodie had threatened self-harm. A spokesperson for the Baraboo Police Department, Lt. Ryan La Broscian, told WEAU that Kodie’s family believes she took pills, but it’s not clear if it had to do with her cause of death.
“We believe that she did leave on her own. And we do believe that she may be in danger due to the ingestion of some medications,” a local police captain told WKOW before she was found.
La Broscian said Kodie and her family moved to Wisconsin in April, and she was in school for about two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes to be suspended for the year.
He said the girl had a Snapchat account but noted that nothing unusual was posted there. She left behind her shoes and cellular phone.
Anyone with information on the girl’s death can call the Baraboo Police Department at (608) 963-5622.
According to Department of Justice guidelines for AMBER Alerts, they require that there be a “reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred. The law enforcement agency believes that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death. There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law enforcement to issue an AMBER Alert to assist in the recovery of the child. The abduction is of a child aged 17 years or younger. The child’s name and other critical data elements, including the Child Abduction flag, have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.”
