CALLING FOR HELP
What is an Amber Alert and when are they issued?
AMBER Alerts allow law enforcement to ask the public for assistance in finding missing children.
Police are able to reach their communities and warn them to keep an eye out so the child can be safely returned.
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What is an Amber Alert?
An Amber Alert is a message delivered by an alert system that asks the public for help in finding missing children.
It launched in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an early warning system.
There are guidelines for Amber Alerts, including a required "reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred."
Authorities must also believe the child is in "imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death."
Enough descriptive information about the child must be provided to the public in order for the alert to be useful.
The missing child must be 17 years old or younger.
When are Amber Alerts issued?
Local authorities issue Amber Alerts when investigators believe:
- An abduction of a child under the age of 18 has transpired
- The child is in danger of serious bodily harm and or death, either due to the actions of another or due to a proven mental or physical condition
- The missing child reports meet the Reasonable Cause to Believe criteria via eyewitness accounts and by elimination of other possibilities
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Who is the Amber Alert named after?
Amber stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and was named in honor of Amber Hagerman.
Hagerman was just nine years old when she was kidnapped and murdered in Texas on January 13, 1996.
Amber was riding her bike in Arlington when she was abducted.
The little girl's murder remains unsolved and is the subject of the Peacock documentary Amber: The Girl Behind the Alert, which is scheduled for release on January 17, 2023.
“It’s a shame my daughter had to be butchered and had to go through what she went through for us to have the Amber Alert, but I know she would be proud of it,” mother Donna Williams told in 2016.
Detective Ben Lopez of the Arlington Police Department told in 2016 that "it's been extremely frustrating for it to go on this long and not have it solved.
“We have other cold cases and they’re all frustrating, we want to solve them all, but 20 years is a long time.
"It’s frustrating not to be able to give the mom and the family an answer.”
Authorities have received thousands of tips over the last 24 years.
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How do I get Amber Alerts on my phone?
Go to "settings" and then "notifications" on your mobile phone.
Scroll to the bottom of the screen where you will see options under "government alerts."
Amber Alerts will be one of the options, along with Emergency Alerts and Public Safety Alerts.
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The system is used in Canada and in about 20 European nations.
Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom are among the countries that use the system.
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