The Gazette (Cedar Rapids): Why not use AMBER Alert?

[OmahaBlueDog]

The AMBER Alert Program is credited with helping save the lives of nearly 500 children since its Texas beginnings in 1996. This voluntary partnership among law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies and the wireless industry activates urgent bulletins about child-abduction cases. The goal is to quickly galvanize an entire community or region to assist in searching for and safely recovering the child. All 50 states have a version.

Nonetheless, no AMBER Alert was issued for two young Evansdale, Iowa, girls who have been missing since Friday. Why not? Authorities said there has been no evidence suggesting they were abducted.

Yes, that’s one of the rules. It’s at the top of the U.S. Department of Justice AMBER Alert guidelines: “Law enforcement must confirm that an abduction has taken place.”

Still, it seems a waste not to use the system in the Evansdale case, or others like it.

More at: http://thegazette.com/2012/07/18/why-not-use-amber-alert/

This article was posted on 7/18. Today (7/20) the case of the missing girls was declared to be a probable abduction by authorities.

[Indydem]

1. The Amber Alert system is essentially a BOLO.

What are we to keep a look out for when we have no idea what vehicle they are in, or who they might be with?

Amber alerts are not issued in cases of missing children all the time, and the basic ingredient missing is a description of the vehicle and/or person who took them.

[limpyhobbler]

2. k/r