AMBER Alert International – Issue IV 2018

Ecuador says it has become the first South American country to have an alert for children who have been abducted or are believed to be in immediate danger. The Alert Emilia is named after a nine-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in 2017 by human traffickers. “In Ecuador the AMBER Alert will be called Alert Emilia, in memory of Emilia Benavides, whose death marked a pattern to strengthen these actions with a state policy that involves the whole society,” said César Navas, Ecuador Minister of the Interior. The alert will send information and images of the missing child through television, email and social networks. The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) will include Ecuador as the 28th member country of its Global Network of Missing Children.

The Canadian province of Manitoba is now using the Silver Alert to notify the public about missing elderly people or someone with dementia, autism or Downs Syndrome. Police keep a database of individuals who would qualify for a Silver Alert if they are missing. “The major criteria are that the person is missing, that they are vulnerable and that they have a cognitive disability,” said Winnipeg Police Inspector Kelly Dennison.