13 Missouri children found in 2023 after Amber Alerts
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Thirteen missing Missouri children were found in 2023 after authorities issued Amber Alerts to help find them.
According to the Department of Public Safety, from Dec. 1, 2022, to Nov. 30, 2023, the state issued 11 Amber Alerts for 13 children. Two alerts were for more than one child. Of the 13 children, 12 were found safe in Missouri and one was found safe in Illinois.
On Tuesday an Amber Alert was issued for a 2-year-old girl who was abducted from Springfield, Missouri followed by another one issued Wednesday afternoon for a missing 3-year-old boy out of Perryville, Missouri. Both Amber Alerts were canceled after the children were found safe.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, law enforcement agencies need to make sure certain criteria are met to activate an Amber Alert.
Law enforcement needs to have a reasonable belief that there has been an abduction and that there is a credible threat of serious bodily harm or death. There also has to be enough descriptive information about the child abducted and the abductor. The child's name and other critical information must be entered into the National Crime Information Center system before the alert can be issued.
ABC 17 News spoke with Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Kyle Green and he says that unless they have all of the information, an Amber Alert can't be sent.
"One of the things that we try to do is get people to go to the highway patrol website, where it lists the activation criteria, and that way an agency knows, hey, we've got all these different things, and now we can contact the Highway Patrol to get that Amber alert activated," said Green.
ABC 17 News spoke to Perryville police department spokesperson Sgt. Jeri Cain and she said there is a reason why the criteria is strict.
"They don't want people to get desensitized by always getting an Amber alert every time somebody goes missing or a child goes missing," said Cain. "So that's why they have the criteria and then once if we develop the information to issue the amber, then they'll go ahead and issue the Amber alert."
According to MSHP, Troop F Communications will contact the state AMBER Alert coordinator or their designee and initiate a conference call between the local agency, Troop F Communications, and the coordinator or designee.
Green says that call is more of a verification process to find out what information they know and what boxes are checked in relation to the criteria as well as further updates. "If an Amber alert is issued, you know, if we're able to gain further information that we can send out to help identify and find that child," said Green.
In 2023, 30 Amber Alerts were requested for 38 children and only 11 met the Amber Alert criteria.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, at least 1,200 children have been recovered nationwide in cases where Amber Alerts were issued.
