12-31-2005, 08:43 PM
In the text.
Very sad indeed.
Cell-phone GPS could have helped find child
01:13 AM PST on Saturday, December 31, 2005
By MARY BENDER / The Press-Enterprise
When 10-month-old Wade Cochran was spirited away this month during a brazen car theft in Eastvale, authorities could have found him quickly through a global positioning system on a cell phone in the car.
Paul Alvarez / The Press-Enterprise
Jason and Stephanie Cochran show their sons Blake, 3, and 10-month-old Wade (foreground).
But Sprint, the family's cellular provider, wouldn't immediately provide the location of the phone -- and, by extension, the car and the baby -- to Wade's frantic parents or even to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Luckily, the story ended happily two hours later. Sheriff's deputies found the missing infant, unharmed and still buckled into the back seat of the family's Lincoln Aviator. The thief had abandoned the car not far from the Cochrans' neighborhood.
"It could have easily gone south, gone bad," Detective Curt Harris of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said of the Dec. 23 incident. "We could have had that baby a good 50 minutes to an hour before we found him."
Kathleen Dunleavy, a Sprint spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said the company generally requires a subpoena or some other type of court order to divulge information to public safety agencies. Under more urgent circumstances, Sprint follows a slightly looser company policy.
"In situations that are exigent and dire, we do need some law enforcement paperwork to be provided," she said. "We can't release information without having the paperwork beforehand. It is law enforcement's responsibility to do that."
Sprint can release the information, but only with the customer's approval, Dunleavy said. "The point of (the policy) is to protect the customer. We protect our customers' privacy above all else in these situations," she said.
Parents Alerted Company
Jason and Stephanie Cochran alerted Sprint, pleading with the company to track the car because their cell phone -- equipped with a GPS chip -- had been left inside. Detectives also appealed to the company.
But parents and deputies met resistance and red tape from Sprint officials, who refused to release the phone's whereabouts. "It was like our one string of hope that we'd be able to locate him quickly," Stephanie Cochran said.
At first, Stephanie Cochran was told when she called Sprint that it couldn't determine the car's location because the family had never activated the phone's GPS feature, she recounted this week. Later, Sprint personnel told deputies that the Cochrans would have to sign a form and pay a $25 fee before the company could tell investigators where to find the phone, said Harris, of the sheriff's Jurupa Valley station.
Cochran criticized Sprint's decision to stick to its policy when her child's safety was at stake. "Detective Harris said to me: 'You might want to consider changing your cell phone provider. They knew exactly where your car was, and wouldn't release it to us,' " she said. "I just thought that was horrible."
The sheriff's department publicized Wade Cochran's abduction through the statewide Amber Alert system. A passerby spotted the Aviator.
Deputies arrested Gilbert Raymond Ibarra, 21, of Rubidoux, four days later, when the Cochrans' other car, a GMC Envoy, was stolen. Ibarra was booked on suspicion of committing that Dec. 27 theft, but charges are pending in the Dec. 23 incident.
"Ibarra later admitted to stealing the first vehicle with the child inside," the sheriff's department said in a statement.
He pleaded not guilty Thursday in Riverside Superior Court to six charges, including auto theft, evading a peace officer and being a gang member in possession of a concealed firearm, said Ingrid Wyatt, a District Attorney's spokeswoman. Ibarra will return for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 12.
Sprint officials wouldn't elaborate on the reasons behind their company practices.
Harris thinks the privacy concerns should have been moot because Jason and Stephanie Cochran had already asked Sprint for the information.
"This was a matter of a company policy, and the mom and dad would have been perfectly willing to sign those release forms. But that should be waived temporarily," the detective said.
"When time is of the essence, those doors should be opened for us. We get the same rigmarole -- that it's a privacy matter," Harris said. "Send that (form) later, after we find the baby. To hold (the information) over their head for a $25 fee and a signed authorization is beyond me."
Unfortunately for law enforcement, Sprint isn't unique, the detective said. "Most companies aren't very cooperative unless we provide them with a search warrant, which takes time," Harris said.
"It depends on the company, whether they're willing to step up and help right away," Harris said. "Everybody's so concerned with liability, thinking they're going to get sued."
Sprint, headquartered in Virginia, merged with Nextel earlier this year. The company has 40 million wireless subscribers nationwide, Dunleavy said.
No Details on Response
Dunleavy couldn't provide details on how Sprint responded in this case. "I wasn't able to get information on this specific case. We certainly hope that everyone is OK, but we do have policies in place ... to protect our customers' privacy," she said.
For Cochran, that's not the point.
"You know what? Maybe break a rule here," said Cochran, a six-year Sprint customer. "We're going to definitely switch our provider. I'm hoping that other parents will learn from our situation."
Very sad indeed.
Cell-phone GPS could have helped find child
01:13 AM PST on Saturday, December 31, 2005
By MARY BENDER / The Press-Enterprise
When 10-month-old Wade Cochran was spirited away this month during a brazen car theft in Eastvale, authorities could have found him quickly through a global positioning system on a cell phone in the car.
Paul Alvarez / The Press-Enterprise
Jason and Stephanie Cochran show their sons Blake, 3, and 10-month-old Wade (foreground).
But Sprint, the family's cellular provider, wouldn't immediately provide the location of the phone -- and, by extension, the car and the baby -- to Wade's frantic parents or even to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Luckily, the story ended happily two hours later. Sheriff's deputies found the missing infant, unharmed and still buckled into the back seat of the family's Lincoln Aviator. The thief had abandoned the car not far from the Cochrans' neighborhood.
"It could have easily gone south, gone bad," Detective Curt Harris of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said of the Dec. 23 incident. "We could have had that baby a good 50 minutes to an hour before we found him."
Kathleen Dunleavy, a Sprint spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said the company generally requires a subpoena or some other type of court order to divulge information to public safety agencies. Under more urgent circumstances, Sprint follows a slightly looser company policy.
"In situations that are exigent and dire, we do need some law enforcement paperwork to be provided," she said. "We can't release information without having the paperwork beforehand. It is law enforcement's responsibility to do that."
Sprint can release the information, but only with the customer's approval, Dunleavy said. "The point of (the policy) is to protect the customer. We protect our customers' privacy above all else in these situations," she said.
Parents Alerted Company
Jason and Stephanie Cochran alerted Sprint, pleading with the company to track the car because their cell phone -- equipped with a GPS chip -- had been left inside. Detectives also appealed to the company.
But parents and deputies met resistance and red tape from Sprint officials, who refused to release the phone's whereabouts. "It was like our one string of hope that we'd be able to locate him quickly," Stephanie Cochran said.
At first, Stephanie Cochran was told when she called Sprint that it couldn't determine the car's location because the family had never activated the phone's GPS feature, she recounted this week. Later, Sprint personnel told deputies that the Cochrans would have to sign a form and pay a $25 fee before the company could tell investigators where to find the phone, said Harris, of the sheriff's Jurupa Valley station.
Cochran criticized Sprint's decision to stick to its policy when her child's safety was at stake. "Detective Harris said to me: 'You might want to consider changing your cell phone provider. They knew exactly where your car was, and wouldn't release it to us,' " she said. "I just thought that was horrible."
The sheriff's department publicized Wade Cochran's abduction through the statewide Amber Alert system. A passerby spotted the Aviator.
Deputies arrested Gilbert Raymond Ibarra, 21, of Rubidoux, four days later, when the Cochrans' other car, a GMC Envoy, was stolen. Ibarra was booked on suspicion of committing that Dec. 27 theft, but charges are pending in the Dec. 23 incident.
"Ibarra later admitted to stealing the first vehicle with the child inside," the sheriff's department said in a statement.
He pleaded not guilty Thursday in Riverside Superior Court to six charges, including auto theft, evading a peace officer and being a gang member in possession of a concealed firearm, said Ingrid Wyatt, a District Attorney's spokeswoman. Ibarra will return for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 12.
Sprint officials wouldn't elaborate on the reasons behind their company practices.
Harris thinks the privacy concerns should have been moot because Jason and Stephanie Cochran had already asked Sprint for the information.
"This was a matter of a company policy, and the mom and dad would have been perfectly willing to sign those release forms. But that should be waived temporarily," the detective said.
"When time is of the essence, those doors should be opened for us. We get the same rigmarole -- that it's a privacy matter," Harris said. "Send that (form) later, after we find the baby. To hold (the information) over their head for a $25 fee and a signed authorization is beyond me."
Unfortunately for law enforcement, Sprint isn't unique, the detective said. "Most companies aren't very cooperative unless we provide them with a search warrant, which takes time," Harris said.
"It depends on the company, whether they're willing to step up and help right away," Harris said. "Everybody's so concerned with liability, thinking they're going to get sued."
Sprint, headquartered in Virginia, merged with Nextel earlier this year. The company has 40 million wireless subscribers nationwide, Dunleavy said.
No Details on Response
Dunleavy couldn't provide details on how Sprint responded in this case. "I wasn't able to get information on this specific case. We certainly hope that everyone is OK, but we do have policies in place ... to protect our customers' privacy," she said.
For Cochran, that's not the point.
"You know what? Maybe break a rule here," said Cochran, a six-year Sprint customer. "We're going to definitely switch our provider. I'm hoping that other parents will learn from our situation."