Amber Alert

An AMBER (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert is a notification system that is sent out across the United States and Canada when authorities confirm that a child has been abducted. During an AMBER Alert, law enforcement officials and media outlets team together to find missing children. The program started in Texas and is named after Amber Hagerman.U.S. Department of Justice: Amber Alert

In April 2009, Bruce Seybert, the man who devised the plan, filed a lawsuit against the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, citing trademark infringement. He accused them of not implementing state guidelines and of inefficiency.Houston Press: Amber Alert: A Trademark-Infringement... (April 17, 2009)

An AMBER Alert can be sent out via e-mail, electronic traffic condition signs, SMS text messages, terrestrial and satellite radio broadcasts, and local and cable television broadcasts by the Emergency Alert System.

In 1996, nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted in Arlington, Texas, while she was riding a bicycle at her grandmother's house. She was found brutally murdered four days after her disappearance. During the time of her vanishing, the media played a vital role in disseminating information to the public. In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Protect Act, which mandated a child abduction alert program on a national scale.Amber Alert: About AMBER Alert