Leon Valley – Alison Steele helped the CLEAR Alert become law in 2019, nearly two years after her daughter, Cayley Mandadi, was murdered. Mandadi is among the victims of violence honored in the alert’s name.
Steele said there are criteria for the Coordinated Law Enforcement Adult Rescue (CLEAR) Alert to protect its integrity.
“There has to be some indication that their disappearance was life-threatening and involuntary,” she said.
The alert is requested by a local law enforcement agency and finalized by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Below are the CLEAR Alert questions needed to meet the criteria for the state’s network:
- Is the individual 18 to 64 years of age, whose whereabouts are unknown?
- Has a preliminary investigation verified the adult is in imminent danger of bodily injury or death or is the disappearance involuntary, such as an abduction or kidnapping?
- Is the CLEAR Alert request within 72 hours of the individual’s disappearance?
- Is sufficient information available to disseminate to the public to help locate the individual, a suspect, or the vehicle used in the incident?
In the case of pregnant 18-year-old Savanah Soto, the family reached out to Leon Valley police on Friday, Dec. 23, 2023, three days before she was found dead. Police said they got a request for a welfare check.
Soto and her boyfriend, Matthew Guerra, were last seen in a gray KIA on Dec. 22, 2023, in their Grissom Road apartment complex.
On Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023, police told KSAT there was no missing person’s report, no signs of forced entry at their home, and no cause for concern.
The next day, on Christmas, LVPD issued a CLEAR Alert for Soto through DPS.
Leon Valley Police Chief David Gonzalez declined an interview with KSAT to answer questions on why the CLEAR Alert wasn’t issued sooner. He only said detectives were sorting out all the information they received to determine what happened to the couple.
Steele said investigations sometimes have a lot of moving parts.
“We on the outside of the law enforcement domain sort of are left asking questions as to why it didn’t go out sooner or why it didn’t go out at all sometimes,” she said. “But the thing to remember is we just don’t know. These are active police investigations. So those of us, you know, outside of those agencies don’t really know what the evidence is on the table.”