Issue 58

Our second issue of 2024 reflects our collective mindset, “One team, one fight” (a phrase coined by Hawaii AMBER Alert Coordinator Amanda Leonard at our recent National AMBER Alert & AMBER Alert in Indian Country Symposium.) We share highlights from the productive and inspiring two-day event in New Orleans. We also talk with Michigan AMBER Alert Coordinator Jolene Hardesty about her work on the Not Invisible Act Commission, which focused on finding solutions to the key problems faced by Indigenous communities. We delve into the high-profile abduction and rescue of a 9-year-old girl in New York—a case that underscores the importance of prudent alerting decisions. And we provide the latest AMBER Alert-related news you can use.

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Features

Photo of two women hugging at the Symposium. AMBER Alert Coordinators and child protection professionals from across the nation and abroad reunited for the annual learning event. {Photo credit: AATTAP}

Cover Story: ‘One Team, One Fight’

Hundreds of state and regional AMBER Alert Coordinators, Missing Person Clearinghouse Managers, Tribal law enforcement officers, public alerting/emergency management experts, [..]

Front Lines: Wheels of Justice

As the disappearance of 9-year-old [..]

Faces: A Shining Light

Jolene Hardesty has faced challenges [..]

Cover Story Extra: Healing Through Comfort

For those fortunate enough to witness it, one of the Symposium’s most moving moments came in the guise of a small package—one that guest speaker Pamela Foster quietly handed to AATTAP CART Project Coordinator Derek VanLuchene.

John Walsh partners with NCMEC, returns to TV

In the aftermath of his son Adam’s kidnapping and murder in 1981, John Walsh became a victim’s rights activist, political lobbyist, and creator of the TV program, “America’s Most Wanted,” which he hosted until 2013. The popular show was credited with helping solve missing child cases, including the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, featured on one [..]

Exchange student rescued after online scam

When Chinese exchange student Kai Zhuang was reported missing in December from his host high school in Riverdale, Utah, authorities traced his location by analyzing call data and bank records. Police found the 17-year-old alone in a tent in rural Utah, amid freezing temperatures and with limited food and water, the apparent victim of a cyber-kidnapping scam. [..]

GPS bracelet helps Florida deputies find child

It was nearing dusk one Sunday evening last November when Hillsborough County deputies in Tampa, Florida, were notified about a missing 9-year-old child with autism. With weather conditions worsening, deputies could not use an air unit to help search for the child, but a SafetyNet bracelet he was wearing allowed them to pinpoint his location. SafetyNet works [..]

Indian Country Briefs

Two Iowa sisters become a voice for missing and murdered Indigenous people

Despite being separated during childhood, two Sioux City, Iowa, sisters and members of the Winnebago Tribe reunited as adults and set out to learn more about their Native American heritage. While digging into their family history, Trisha Rivers and Jessica Lopez-Walker learned of an aunt, Paulette “Paulie” Walker, who left Iowa for California in 1984, [..]

Ottawa begins work on ‘Red Dress Alert’ for missing Indigenous women and girls

Leah Gazan, a member of Canada’s Parliament, is leading discussions on a proposed “Red Dress Alert” system for missing Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit (gender-diverse) people, who face a murder rate six times that of other females. Similar to AMBER Alerts for children, Red Dress notifications would be sent to the public on their phones. [..]

New DNA tests can help identify missing Native Americans and solve crimes

Advances in rapid DNA sequencing are helping to solve missing persons cases long gone cold, such as that of 20-year-old Ashley Loring Heavyrunner, who disappeared from Montana’s Blackfeet Reservation in 2017. New testing kits can extract thousands of genetic markers from unidentified human remains, making it easier to link them to missing persons. Because few [..]

International Briefs

Report: Migrant children still missing in Ireland

Dozens of migrant children who sought protection after fleeing war-torn countries have vanished in Ireland since 2017. A 2023 report published by University College Dublin’s (UCD) Sexual Exploitation Research Programme (SERP) indicates some of the children were victims of organized sexual exploitation. Of the 62 who are missing, 44 have reached their 18th birthday and, [..]

Ongoing efforts return ‘stolen’ Ukraine children

Ukraine officials have identified more than 19,000 children illegally removed from their homes and taken to Russia or Russia-controlled territory since the war began in February 2022. In some cases, Russian authorities took hundreds of children from Ukrainian orphanages and schools, according to Russian documents gathered by Lyudmyla Denisova, a former Ukraine human rights official. [..]

New photo technology helps find missing kids

A novel use of technology is helping to locate missing children around the world, including 9-year-old Phillista Waithera, who vanished in Nairobi in 2021. Two years later, she was reunited with her immediate family with the use of Face Age Progression (FAP) technology, which utilizes an Artificial Intelligence (AI) app to create photos of the [..]

AMBER Advocate Magazine