Amber Alert Cancelled

The Amber Alert for 14-year-old Krystal Borrego was cancelled Tuesday evening. The child was reported missing from the Homestead area, but the case was resolved. Officials did not put out any additional information.

Amber Alert: Krystal Borrego

Missing Person Info
Name: Krystal Borrego
Age: 14 years old
Gender: Female
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Skin Tone: White
Height: 5''2
Weight: 130 lbs

Last Seen: Monday, May 5th near 9th Court and Washington Avenue in Homestead FL.

UPDATE: According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, she may be with an unknown black male in a dark-red, 1990s two-door Saturn. Homestead police spokesman Ed Bowe stated that Borrego is bipolar and has a history of running away from home.

This message is currently up on all 13 of our digital billboards in the Tampa Bay area. If anyone has any info that might lead to the child's whereabouts, please contact 305-247-1535.

LA Board Approves Revised Regulations

The Los Angeles Planning Commission voted 6-3 last Thursday to limit the addition of new digital billboards to 21 specific districts throughout the city. The proposal now goes to the City Council for final approval. If passed, the council would decide on a case-by-case basis whether new signs may be built within a specific district. Opponents of the bill feel that it could leave itself vulnerable to court challenges contesting it's constitutionality.

These kinds of discussions are taking place in cities across the country, as some fear that a lack of clarity in sign ordinances with regards to digital billboards could lead to digital signs on every street corner. Local municipalities such as the City of Tampa and City of St. Petersburg are facing similar decisions. The removal of antiquated traditional billboard structures in exchange for the right to build a limited number of digital billboards can be a win/win for the community. Hurricanes threaten the structural integrity of older, pole-mounted signs each year, and the current laws prohibit upgrades or reinforcement that could prevent potential property damage.

The thinking amongst law makers and the community seems to be that when it comes to billboards, we should have fewer. And a higher percentage of those remaining should be state-of-the-art digital signs that allow for the use of emergency alerts, hurricane evacuation messages, amber alerts and information about wanted criminals. Since each digital board broadcasts a rotation of 8 advertisers, the result is a smaller billboard footprint that creates more opportunities for local businesses.

Missing Child Found!

Rosa Sirilo-Francisco, the mother of the missing child, says a woman claiming to be an immigration official demanded that she hand over her baby or be deported. Sirilo-Francisco complied, only to decide later that she should report the incident. The Manatee County sheriff's department received an anonymous tip today that the child could be found at the home of Amalia Tabata Pereira (pictured) who subsequently turned in the 2-month-old saying, "This is the Amber Alert baby." No charges have been filed yet, but Plant City investigators expect to charge Pereira with the child's kidnapping. The child was returned unharmed and safe.

New Amber Alert Issued

I received a notice around midnight that there was an Amber Alert issued for a 2 month old girl last seen Monday night in Plant City.

According to the design that is up and running on all of our digital boards, Sandra Cruz-Francisco is Hispanic, 22 inches tall and 10 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. TBO.com reports she was last seen wearing pink pants, a pink shirt and pink socks on the 300 block of North Michigan Avenue in Plant City.

Her mother told police the baby was kidnapped from the Plant City Health Department. The police report was filed about 8:20 p.m. The child may be with a Hispanic woman about 30 years old, possibly named Janet. The woman has black hair, blue eyes and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a long-sleeve black shirt and white shoes.

They may be traveling in a small four-door, blue car possibly heading toward Miami.

New FL Amber Alert!

Within minutes of being issued, this Amber Alert notification was sent out to Clear Channel's Digital Outdoor Network in Tampa. It is the billboard company's policy to suspend all other advertising for one hour, showing only the Amber Alert, after which the design is placed into a rotation with the paid advertisements. Here's a webcam shot of the board, which went up literally 10 minutes ago...

UPDATE: Investigators are calling Haleigh's disappearance an abduction... Read More