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WILLARD, Box Elder County — A month-long search for a missing infant from Montana ended in Utah this week, and law enforcement agencies said it’s all thanks to a cross-state data sharing system.
Michelle Yallup, 29, is accused of leaving a hospital in Anaconda, Montana, with her newborn son after testing positive for methamphetamine. Hospital staff advised her to stay but said if she still chose to leave, she needed to leave the baby.
Yallup was last seen on June 17. On June 18, the Montana Department of Justice issued a missing and endangered person advisory.
Last Thursday, the Statewide Information and Analysis Center in Utah was contacted by law enforcement in Montana to help with the case. Monday, SIAC tracked down a possible location for Yallup.
“We knew the rough area of the suspect. We were able to find out the officers who worked in the area and from that we can send them a private message either via email or private message," said Cody Dunn, SIAC intelligence analyst.
Yallup was found in a motor home at a gas station in Willard.
Information from various state and federal agencies around the country are collected and stored in the SIAC database. There are 77 fusion centers in the United States. By sharing information, agencies can collaborate and work together to quickly and efficiently solve cases.
“To share that information is critical,” said Keith Squires, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Last year, the fusion centers helped crack more than 7,000 cases.
