Every 40 seconds – faster than the time it takes to read this story – a child goes missing in the United States, according to the Child Crime Prevention and Safety Center.
Many circumstances can lead to a child’s disappearance, whether they leave of their own accord or have been taken against their will. When a child has been abducted and is in imminent danger, law enforcement can issue an Amber Alert.
America’s Missing Broadcast Emergency Response Alert System – AMBER for short – allows law enforcement to notify the community of an ongoing search for an abducted child. With this information, the public can be on lookout for the child, abductor and the vehicle in which they are traveling.
Alex Schelble, a special agent in the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division’s Missing Persons Information Center, said the Amber Alert system is one tool of many that law enforcement can use when searching for a missing child.
The system operates in partnership with law enforcement agencies, broadcasters and highway patrol. Alerts are sent out to the public through various media including radio stations, TV, cell phones, road signs and more.
Set criteria
On average, one Amber Alert has been issued in South Carolina each year since 2017. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division oversees the state’s Amber Alert system.
Every state has a protocol and criteria for activating an Amber Alert. Five requirements must be met for an Amber Alert to be released in South Carolina:
- The child, who is 17 years old or younger, has been abducted
- The child is in immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death
- All other possibilities for the child’s disappearance have been reasonably excluded
- There is sufficient information available to share with the public that could assist in locating the child, suspect or the suspect’s vehicle
- The child is entered into the National Crime Information Center system
Once the local law enforcement agency determines a specific child-abduction case meets the requirements, they will notify SLED and ask for an Amber Alert to be issued.
“We don’t want to use it for every situation if it doesn’t meet the criteria because we don’t want to desensitize the public to the Amber Alert,” Schelble said. “Them seeing the Amber Alert every day would not make it as useful and as, you know, urgent as it makes the public feel now.”
John Bischoff, vice president of the Missing Children Division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said the time from when a child goes missing to when an Amber Alert is released varies case by case. It can depend on how quickly law enforcement officers determine if the case meets the requirements.
“Investigations evolve so information might come up that wasn’t here an hour ago,” Bischoff said. “That’s why in some cases an Amber Alert may go out 12 hours later or 10 hours later from when the child went missing because more information came to the surface.”
Alert activation
Activating an Amber Alert can take only a couple of minutes. SLED completes the primary distribution of the alert.
When an alert is issued, all South Carolina law enforcement agencies are notified to be on the lookout for the child and abductor. The South Carolina Department of Transportation activates traffic advisory signs to show the Amber Alert information. Local radio and TV stations also interrupt their normal broadcast to issue the alert.
Wireless emergency alerts are released to people’s mobile phones across South Carolina. Schelble said these alerts are sent throughout the state because South Carolina is so small. People may also receive wireless alerts from surrounding states if it is believed the suspect is traveling to their area with the abducted child.
SLED will also send the alert to NCMEC who will help distribute the information even further. Bischoff said the nonprofit has partnerships with advertisers and social media companies including Meta and X that will help send out the information.
“Social media is so wonderful these days,” Bischoff said. “A lot of people help share that information and keep it going further.”
After an Amber Alert is issued, anyone who sees the child, abductor, or suspect’s vehicle must immediately call 911. Bischoff said there have also been cases where the abductor will release the child after they hear the Amber Alert.
“All we ask for the public…whenever they see an alert about a missing child, whether it be an Amber Alert or a missing child poster hanging in a storefront, is to stop for a second and look at that information,” Bischoff said. “You may not recognize them right away, but you may encounter them in the next 12 to 24 hours.”
This story was filed as part of an editorial partnership between South Carolina Public Radio and the Greenville Journal, who is responsible for its content. You can learn more about the Greenville Journal here.