The department received 6, calls in about 12 hours, the police said. Most were false leads that wasted time and resources. Wayne Fisher, a professor at Rutgers University Graduate School of Criminal Justice, said police have always relied on the public in missing person cases, usually disseminating what they know through the media, then sifting through the tips they receive in return. But social media like Twitter reaches everyone instantly and there is no system for filtering rumors.
And in this case, Fisher said, the flow of information turned out to be too great. She asked others to call but did not do so herself, Scherb said. They then called Police arrived and it didn't take long for them to realize something was amiss. There was no sign of forced entry and nothing in the house was disturbed.
K-9 units tracked Alongi's scent from the back door of the house, through a neighbor's yard and then to the sidewalk and around the corner back onto her block where the scent went cold, police said. Police eventually found the cab driver who said he drove her to the Rahway train station shortly after her tweet was sent.
Alongi was described by family and friends as a "sweet" girl, the oldest of three children who could be counted on to look after her two younger brothers, popular in school and talented at tennis. At Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark, students had mixed reactions. In the days following her disappearance, investigators discovered someone called for a taxi at Alongi's address at around the same time the message was posted.
Police had also released a photo of Alongi at the Rahway train station, carrying a backpack. Police said she bought a ticket to Penn Station. The teen spent time in New York, New Jersey and Maryland during the time she was missing, prosecutors said.
Complete coverage of Kara Alongi on Crimesider. Please enter email address to continue. Alongi appeared in Superior Court in Elizabeth today and pleaded guilty to a third-degree charge of creating a false public alarm and a fourth-degree charge of making false reports to law enforcement authorities, Acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park said in a statement.
Alongi left home last Sept. Superior Court Judge Robert Kirsch ordered Alongi to serve 20 hours of community service at the Elizabeth Police Department and 20 hours at the city fire department to understand the challenges faced by law enforcement and the effect false reports can potentially have on day-to-day operations, Park said.
She said Kirsch explained that although Alongi was a juvenile at the time of her disappearance, her identity and the adjudication and disposition are on the public record because she pleaded guilty to an offense that, if committed by an adult, would have constituted a third-degree charge.
On Sept. When the family returned home, Kara was gone, having sent the tweet "There is someone in my hour ecall ," which generated thousands of re-tweets and sparked a movement to helpfindkara.
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