“As the National AMBER Alert Coordinator, I am pleased to see the growth of the program’s national network.  I would like to thank NCMEC and Facebook for working together to develop another way the public can join with us to bring home missing and abducted children.  We each can play our part by being aware and responsive to AMBER Alert postings that we will now see on Facebook,” said Laurie O. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs. 

An estimated 800,000 children are reported missing every year.  AMBER Alert is a voluntary partnership involving law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters.  An urgent AMBER Alert bulletin is issued by law enforcement in the most serious child-abduction cases that meet specific criteria.  The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of the child.

“Average people doing average things but paying attention are saving lives and reuniting families,” said Ernie Allen, President of NCMEC.  “With more than 500 million Facebook users this bold initiative will help us mobilize many more people and bring more missing children home.”

About the AMBER Alert Program

On January 13, 1996, 9-year-old Amber Hagerman went missing while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas.  A neighbor heard her scream and saw a man pull her off her bike   throw her into the front seat of his pickup truck and drive away.  Local radio and television stations covered the story.  However, four days later Amber’s body was found in a drainage ditch four miles away.  Her kidnapping and murder still remain unsolved.

Although her case has never been solved, her abduction and murder in 1996 lead to the creation of the national AMBER Alert Program.  AMBER stands for:  America’s Missing Broadcast Emergency Response.  In response to Amber’s abduction, the Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Radio Managers teamed up with local law-enforcement in 1997 to implement the first local AMBER Plan.  Since that time, the program has grown into a seamless network of 120 AMBER plans across the country, and has even reached into Canada, England, France, Greece, Portugal, Mexico and other countries. 

In 2003, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Justice to oversee the AMBER Alert program designating the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs as National AMBER Coordinator.  To date, the AMBER Alert program has been credited with the safe recovery of 525 children nationwide. 

The primary means for AMBER Alert activation is the Emergency Alert System (EAS), the broadcast system used for weather emergencies and other public emergencies.  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created a special code and tone for AMBER Alerts.  Once law enforcement has determined that a child has been abducted and the abduction meets AMBER Alert criteria, law enforcement notifies broadcasters and state transportation officials.   

To enhance and expand the reach for AMBER Alerts an AMBER Alert Secondary Distribution System has also been created.  These “secondary” alerts are reaching millions of Americans in many ways including through partnerships with Internet Service Providers, the Trucking Industry, the Wireless Industry and through the use of Digital Signage which all help distribute AMBER Alert bulletins to a geographically targeted audience.  The Justice Department has designated NCMEC to coordinate these secondary