Thanks to a tip from a Live PD viewer, a young child missing from California for more than a year, has been found safe in Western New York. Six-year-old Talia Jones disappeared on June 17, 2019 from her home in San Pedro, California. Police say Talia was abducted by her mother, Melinda Davis. Davis does not have legal custody of her daughter and was charged with felony child stealing. Investigators say Talia has a life-threatening medical condition and finding her was critical because it was unlikely that she was receiving necessary medical care.
Talia Jones and Melinda Davis
Talia’s case was featured on A&E’s Live PD on May 16, 2020. Talia and her mother were immediately recognized by a Live PD viewer, who contacted the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children call center. The caller revealed that Talia and her mother were seen on their way to upstate New York. Investigators with Los Angeles Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force worked with the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in the Western District of New York to develop the tip which led to a residence in Buffalo. On August 31, 2020, Talia was found safe, over 2,500 miles from where the search for her originally began. She was placed with Erie County Department of Child Services and Melinda Davis was arrested on the outstanding warrant.
Live PD episode with Talia Jones - May 16, 2020
“This is an awesome example of the power of television and how one alert person made a difference,” said Angeline Hartmann, Director of Communications at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “We urge everyone to pay attention to the faces of missing kids. It just takes one person to bring home a missing child.”
Since 2017, the National Center featured more than 100 missing kids on Live PD. Over half of those children were recovered before the show was cancelled in June 2020.
