When An Amber Alert Is Issued

Lately, a few people from various parts of the country have expressed doubts in the sincerity of law enforcement in their communities because Amber Alerts are not always issued when children go missing. It's always comforting to know the police are actively seeking a missing child, but some people continue to question why Amber Alerts are not in place for each case. Two recent cases that stand out are the Sarah and Jacob Hoggle case, of Montgomery County, Maryland, and Samara Herrera who was missing for much of the day in Topeka, Kansas on Saturday, September 20, but who was successfully located without an Amber Alert.

The Amber Alert system is a great tool for public awareness when a child disappears. The criteria for an Amber Alert is very strong evidence that the child has actually been taken by an unauthorized adult, and a reasonably accurate description of the adult and the child. A description of a vehicle is also necessary; if possible, with the tag number. This helps give the general public an idea of what kind of transportation they should hope to see, and it gives law enforcement a reason to look harder at any vehicle that matches the description. Quite a few children have been found and brought home because of Amber Alerts.

An Amber Alert would not be helpful in the Hoggle case, because the car that was used to transport the children away from home was returned to its owner, the childrens' grandfather, and police have no further information concerning vehicles used by the childrens' mother. Likewise, in Samara Herrera's case in Topeka, no known vehicle could be reported to law enforcement, so that identifying information could not be used to compile an Amber Alert. At the same time, however; police bulletins have been broadcast extensively for both cases. The absence of an Amber Alert does not mean that there is any absence of search and rescue efforts, or an ongoing case, should the child remain missing.

Sharing photos of missing persons, along with the contact information of the police department handling their cases, is still the best way for communities to assist in missing persons cases, even in cases that do not fit the criteria for Amber Alerts.