On Saturday, Antioch Police Dispatcher Autumn Turnage went with her instincts after getting off a 16-hour shift and began looking for a missing special needs 9-year-old juvenile in the City of Antioch.
Turnage explained that the call came in early Saturday morning and officers were out looking for the juvenile utilizing a lot of resources. She had entered the boys information into the missing persons system and heard they had been searching near Park Middle School as her shift was ending.
As she began to drive home when something inside her told her to get off Highway 4 and onto Lone Tree Way near Tregallas. She began driving in that area hoping to locate the juvenile based on a hunch she had.
“I had known his clothing, height, weight, nickname, I am not the one who took the original call, but I had the specifics,” explained Turnage. “Other things were going on while they were searching such as a helicopter was called along with Search and Rescue was beginning to ramp up. I heard they had searched Park Middle School when I was getting off and knew he was still outstanding for over 2-hours.”
Turnage says its one of those types of calls if she didn’t know the outcome, it would sit in her head and she wouldn’t be able to sleep highlighting on calls like this dispatchers always wish they could do more and be out in the field.
“I just thought about what if that was my kid walking around lost or what could happen. I was driving home when something told me to take Tregallas and look for that little boy and I did,” said Turnage. “I was looking in the shopping centers and turned onto Lone Tree and Tregallas and he was standing there on the corner. It was surreal.”
Turnage says the juvenile was scared but that she was able to call him by his nickname and identified herself as working with the police department. She comforted him by telling him that his mom was going to be there soon.
“I am just glad he was found,” said Turnage. “I went with my gut instinct and it worked out because this is one of those calls where I would have wondered where he was at.”
Antioch Police Dispatch Supervisor Stacey Malsom said Turnage went above and beyond the duty of a dispatcher.
“We are all really proud of her and happy she was able to help this family,” said Malsom.
Antioch Police Chief Tammany Brooks echoed Malsom’s comments.
“The culture of compassion and caring service to our community is evident through every bureau at the police department. Autumn’s actions that day are a true testament to her character, and I couldn’t be more proud of her,” said Chief Brooks.
Turnage became a dispatcher in 2008 and always found the job to be interesting because police officers get to help people in the community and she thought it would be a great career working on the inside and in her own way helping the community while trying to be an asset to police officers in the field.
She does admit its not the typical 9-to-5 desk job.
“It is not a typical desk job,” says Turnage. “People’s lives are at stake and every call is different. It’s a huge responsibility. At the time of any call, we have to be professional and keep our emotions in check, but at the end of the day, some calls weight heavy on your heart and you think about them.”
She also explained each missing persons call is different. Some are runaway juveniles, others are special needs, and some are at risk. Age also plays a factor.
“In this case, the juvenile was 9 and autistic. He couldn’t speak and with him being high risk, time was of the essence,” said Turnage. “When the call came in I knew it was going to take a lot of our resources and be a priority and our goal was to find him as soon as possible. Again, this was one of those calls you always wonder about the outcome and would think about if its not resolved before the shift is over.”
Antioch Mayor Sean Wright explained how he has seen many times that the police department goes above and beyond the call of duty when it is needed and he was pleased with the outcome of this case.
“Our entire police department is willing to go above and beyond and this is just another example of that. It also highlights why I think we have the best police department,” said Wright. “I am extremely happy of the joyous outcome.”
