Time is of the essence for agencies investigating a child abduction.
Brian Fagan with the FBI says a missing child is one of the hardest things any community will ever have to deal with.
"It's important training and one we will hopefully never have to use," said Fagan.
Tucson and Oro Valley police joined forces with the FBI's Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team (C.A.R.D.) to learn skills and techniques to successfully respond to a child abduction.
The mock kidnapping was based off prior scenarios, case studies, and four days of training in Oro Valley.
The agencies were put to the test in locating a missing 13-year-old girl who never made it to school.
Working with very few clues, investigators learned a key witness saw the girl struggle with her alleged kidnapper.
Role players wearing lanyards participated in the investigation and were graded after the mock kidnapping.
Fagan says instructors play along as well. They're watching the process of the whole thing going down providing feedback at the end."
The scene of the crime in the Rancho Vistoso community in Oro Valley was realistic as a real possible scene.
With a lot of moving parts, agencies use their learned skills to search for clues - stopping cars, blocking roads and going door to door in the neighborhood.
Lieutenant Chris Olson with the Oro Valley Police Department says while no abductions have happened in town, this is about being prepared.
"So when the time comes we can have a collaborative efficient, effective response so that we can save a child."
Oro Valley will be the first and only branch in Southern Arizona for C.A.R.T.
Olson says with this branch if a child abduction were to happen in Pima County they have resources to start the investigation. Adding, "we don't have to wait for the resources from the Maricopa area to get down to southern Arizona because again those first 3 hours to locate an abducted child is crucial."
With the resources learned at the four-day training, investigators were able to locate the suspect and found the child alive.
