South Miami mother: Police reacted too quickly and issued a missing person report – NBC 6 South Florida

A South Miami mother who was reported missing along with her daughter last weekend said police were too quick to raise the alarm.

Christine Betancourt said she left South Florida to go to Disney World before a judge signed an order last Friday requiring her daughter to be returned to her father immediately. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a missing persons report for the 3-year-old over the weekend.

Their attorney requested a delay in the custody exchange, but South Miami police issued a warning to the couple before a judge could grant an extension until Tuesday afternoon.

The mother then complied with the request and brought the girl to her father.

“There was no kidnapping or interference with custody in this case,” said Sam Rabin, Betancourt’s attorney. “There was no criminal conduct or criminal action, and therefore Ms. Betancourt was not charged with a crime. The events were set in motion by a false missing person report that should not have been made.”

“I was not contacted by the police. There was no health check, nothing was done and the fake missing person report reached the level it did and was even maintained even after he was notified,” Betancourt said. “I was fine and my mother had told the police that my daughter and I were fine.”

Betancourt said she would file an internal complaint with South Miami police. The department would not answer NBC6’s questions, saying only that they did their job and the child was safe.

The father’s attorney said they had no idea where the mother and daughter were, and the father filed the missing persons report because the judge signed the removal order – which the mother and her attorney acknowledged was in effect for three days while they were in Central Florida.