Information about Ames's family set-up (his parents were estranged at the time of his disappearance, and he had been on an "at risk register") was passed to the media by police and it seems likely that this led the case to receive a much lower public profile than other child disappearances around the same time.
Informasi tentang komplotan keluarga Ames (orang tuanya terasing pada saat kehilangannya, dan ia berada dalam "catatan dalam risiko") dilewatkan ke media oleh polisi dan menyebabkan kasus ini tidak menerima perhatian publik yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan kehilangan anak lainnya pada waktu yang sama.