AMBER Advocate Magazine

The search for 16-year-old Hannah Anderson, abducted in California, prompts an unprecedented five-state AMBER Alert activation across California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. This becomes the largest-ever use of the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system and draws international attention. Her safe recovery is made possible by horseback riders in Idaho who recognize both the suspect, James Lee DiMaggio, and Hannah from the alert. In a profile, Isleta Pueblo Police Chief Kevin Mariano shares his pioneering work in establishing one of the ten pilot sites for AMBER Alerts in Indian Country, emphasizing that children have always been a priority in tribal communities and that the people are their greatest strength. Germany joins the Netherlands in the AMBER Alert Europe program, expanding alert reach to over 100 million people. Law enforcement officials from Central and South America attend symposia hosted by the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and Interpol to strengthen collaboration on missing children cases. A new online course launches to train new members of Child Abduction Response Teams (CART) on their roles and responsibilities. A profile on Bill Bryan, retiring program manager for the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program, highlights his efforts to develop cost-effective, on-site training—especially in Indian Country. A mock abduction drill in Utah tests the CART’s response capabilities, successfully locating the “victim” but revealing a need for more investigators and resources to manage incoming leads. In Oklahoma, an email scam misuses the term “AMBER Alert” to promote a sex offender monitoring service, prompting officials to clarify it is not part of the official program. During a government shutdown, the Department of Justice AMBER Alert website goes offline, causing public concern that the entire system is down.

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