September 9, 2009

Alena Greer, a 911 Telecommunicator for the Catawba County Communications Center, was recently selected 2009 Telecommunicator of the Year by the North Carolina Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). Greer, who answered the 911 call about the March 2009 murders of four people inside their residence in Conover, received the award on September 2, during NC NENA's annual conference in Sunset Beach, NC. 

Greer is seen on the right in the photograph, with Catawba County Telecommunications Administrator Jerry Boggs.

Catawba County Sheriff's Office investigators working on the March 12, 2009, murders of Lisa Saephan and her three children, 3 year old Cody Sae-Chao, 18 year old Pauline Chao, and 20 year old Melanie Saephan, said Greer's actions to promptly identify the caller's location, gather pertinent information, and quickly dispatch law enforcement played a vital role in solving the case.

"The role Alena played in the tragic call on March 12, 2009, shows her talent in the profession she chose as a telecommunicator," said Jerry Boggs, Catawba County’s Telecommunications Administrator, who nominated her for the award. "Captain Roy Brown of the Sheriff's Office has expressed to me that he is certain her efforts to keep the caller on the line and rapidly get law enforcement en route that morning led to the discovery of important evidence that resulted in the identification of a suspect in the case. I was very honored to present the award to Alena at the recent NC NENA conference."

A friend of Pauline Chao arrived to pick her up for school on the morning of March 12 and watched as Chao went back to the house and was pulled inside by an unknown suspect. The friend immediately called 911 as she fled from the scene. Greer said she went through the procedures and questions she utilizes in similar situations, such as getting a suspect description and any suspicious vehicles that may have been in the area.

"I tried to gather information about the situation and exactly what she had witnessed. I attempted to keep her calm and on the phone so that the deputies would have as much information as possible when they arrived," Greer said. "The caller had no idea of the street name. She was able to give me a house number only, so I refreshed her cell phone information in our phone system and was able to obtain her cell phone's GPS coordinates. The map was showing that she was at an intersection near a house with the same house number she had given. The caller and the driver of the car continued to pick up other classmates as she stayed on the line with 911. I asked her to return to a safe location in the area and stay there until deputies could arrive to speak with her."

Greer, a Caldwell County native, has worked in the Catawba County Communications Center since 2004. She says winning NC NENA's Telecommunicator of the Year Award feels "odd" in some ways.

"It's humbling," Greer said. "I get paid to come to work every day and do a job that I enjoy and makes a difference."