Communities Get Involved in Search for Missing Kids

June 12, 2002 -- If someone abducted your child, what would you expect the community to do in order to get him or her back?

In a growing number of states, communities are being asked to drop everything when a child goes missing. It's a measure that made this 911 call possible in Arlington,Texas, last November.

911 Operator: 911 What is your emergency?

Caller: That AMBER Alert? The lady's right in front of me. … She's got a baby sitting in the front with her. That's her! I can't believe it!

That baby was Rae-Leigh Bradbury, kidnapped and recovered using a system called the "AMBER Alert," which stands for America's Missing Broadcast Emergency Response.

The alert is actually named after a little girl who was kidnapped while riding her bike around her Arlington neighborhood in 1996. Amber Hagerman was found dead four days later.

AMBER Alert is a media all points bulletin, created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The plan is used in various states and municipalities throughout the nation.

When local officials receive a missing child report where a child's life is in danger, they immediately provide details to radio and TV stations: everything from a suspect's description to the clothes the child was wearing.

The first hours can mean the difference between life and death. Statistic show that nearly 75 percent of all children who are kidnapped and murdered are killed within three hours of their abduction.

When Steve and Patricia Bradbury's tiny daughter Rae-Leigh went missing last November, the AMBER Alert had many in Arlington, Texas, looking for the girl as soon as she was pronounced missing.

"They activated the AMBER plan and it went all over, it interrupted every station," said Patricia Bradbury. "It was unreal how the community just all of sudden stopped what they do and everybody was looking for my child. And she was found within minutes — a motorist spotted the car that was being described on his radio."

More and more states are adopting some form of the AMBER Plan. It's now credited with saving at least 17 children since 1996.

Fleisha Moore was pushed out of her abductor's car after he heard the AMBER Alert on the radio. Sisters Monique and Demetri Collette were returned to their parents after a motorist identified the stolen car they were in. And a boy named Treduvian Benton is back with his mother because of the AMBER Alert.

To find out more about AMBER alerts, and to find out whether your community has one or how to start one in your community, go to www.missingkids.com.