Missing 5-year-old child who prompted IAN Alert in Kentucky found dead
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky's IAN Alert system issued its first alert after Silas Chearer went missing.
- State police found the 5-year-old child dead hours after the alert was activated.
- Lawmakers pledged to improve the IAN system, created to aid vulnerable children.
A missing 5-year-old child who prompted an IAN Alert Tuesday has been found dead, according to Kentucky State Police.
The IAN Alert, which notifies people when a child with an intellectual disability or mental illness is missing or endangered, was issued after Silas Chearer was reported missing. State police said he was last seen walking away from his home in Cub Run in Hart County around 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Several hours later, state police said they found Chearer dead. No other details about the incident were released.
“KSP grieves with this family and the community,” state police said in a news release.
Tuesday marked the first time the IAN Alert System was used. The Kentucky General Assembly passed legislation that created the alert, which went into effect in July 2024.
State Rep. Candy Massaroni, who sponsored the bill to create the system, said she was heartbroken to learn the outcome of the search for Chearer.
“Like so many others, I prayed for a different outcome when the IAN Alert was issued this morning. While I am grateful that the system worked as intended and quickly communicated a crisis — today we are left grieving the devastating loss of a precious child,” Massaroni said in a statement posted on Facebook.
The system was named after Ian Sousis, a 9-year-old child who died in June 2022 after running away from a children’s home in Northern Kentucky. State police run the alert system and are the only agency with the ability to activate the notification system.
An alert will be pushed out if state police determine that a public notification is the most appropriate method for finding the missing person. The system also uses existing resources, such as electronic highway signs, the Amber Alert System and the Emergency Alert System, when an alert is necessary.
Massaroni said she’s committed to strengthening the system so the outcome is different the next time a child goes missing.
“In Ian’s name and in Silas’s memory, we will continue to do the work,” Massaroni said.
