Sheriff Mark J. Daniels told listeners on KWCD’s First Watch that a newly used “turquoise alert” helped law enforcement find a noncustodial mother and her child and return the child to a custodial family. “They were able to find both the mother and the daughter and safely and return her to her custodial family,” Daniels said.
Daniels said the turquoise alert — a recent addition to the state’s public-alert tools and linked in his remarks to protection of Indigenous children — caused public confusion because it was unfamiliar to many listeners. “If you see turquoise, you know what it was,” he said, contrasting it with established alerts such as AMBER and Silver.
The sheriff also urged residents to ignore texts and calls demanding immediate payment and to contact law enforcement rather than follow links. “Delete it. Don't mess with it. Don't click on it. Delete it and let it go and block the number if you wish,” he said.
Daniels described a recent local case in which a victim was instructed to package $53,000 in cash and mail it to Florida; postal-service partners flagged the shipment in New Mexico and law enforcement made an arrest. The sheriff said the incident underscores how convincing scammers can be and that the public should verify messages that claim to be from government agencies.
Corporal Scott Borgstadt of the Sierra Vista Police Department reinforced the warning in a separate First Watch segment, noting many impersonation attempts target the Motor Vehicle Division. Borgstadt recommended residents independently call the agency listed on a message rather than using links in unsolicited texts. “Arizona doesn't have a DMV … it's actually MVD,” he said, explaining one textual red flag he and colleagues used to identify fraud.
Authorities urged residents to report suspicious messages to local law enforcement and not to send money or personal information in response to unsolicited communications.