AMBER Advocate Magazine

The 2017 AMBER Alert Symposium takes place in Bloomington, Minnesota, bringing together AMBER Alert coordinators and Missing Persons Clearinghouse managers from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Patty Wetterling, a passionate advocate for missing children following the 1989 abduction and murder of her son Jacob, shares powerful lessons from her 27-year journey. The symposium highlights advancements in technology, including updates to the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system that allow for longer messages, hyperlinks, and Spanish-language alerts. In the “Faces of the AMBER Alert Network” section, Nicole Morell from Massachusetts emphasizes the importance of strong partnerships among New England states and notes her state’s 100% success rate since 2002. Shea Reliford from Indiana stresses the value of close relationships among decision-makers in ensuring program effectiveness. A front-line story details the successful recovery of a 14-year-old girl in Tennessee, taken by adults she met on social media, thanks to cooperation between law enforcement agencies in Tennessee and Georgia. Native American youth Ashton Fish honors missing children by sharing his story and performing a traditional dance at the symposium. The issue also includes briefs on AMBER Alert training in Puerto Rico and a community workshop on human trafficking in Dallas.

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