HOUSTON — Several high-profile AMBER Alerts have brought some attention to the number of notifications being sent out regarding missing children recently.
So far in 2024, 17 AMBER Alerts have been issued for missing children across Texas, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Of those, one ended in the death of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above is of coverage of Audrii Cunningham, an 11-year-old girl who was the subject of an AMBER Alert. She was later found dead.
According to DPS, there were 44 AMBER Alerts issued in the state of Texas in 2023. All resulted in the missing children being found except for one case – 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, who was missing out of Everman, Texas. His mother has since been charged with capital murder in his disappearance.
The 44 alerts are a big increase from the year before – Texas issued 31 AMBER Alerts in 2022, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. That year, Texas led the U.S. in AMBER Alerts, making up 17% of the alerts in the U.S. That was more alerts than the next two states combined – Georgia and Florida with 14 and 13 respectively.
RELATED: Audrii Cunningham timeline: Desperate search for missing 11-year-old comes to heartbreaking end
RELATED: AMBER Alert update: 1-year-old Noah Johnson still missing; regional Amber Alert still active
What are the criteria for an AMBER Alert?
According to the Texas Center for the Missing, the following five criteria must be met to activate the Houston Regional Amber Alert System (HRAAS) or the Texas Statewide Amber Network.
- The missing child must be 17 years of age or younger.
- The law enforcement agency believes the missing child has been abducted. This means the child was either unwillingly taken from their environment without permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian, or taken by the child’s parent or legal guardian who commits an act of murder or attempted murder during the time of the abduction.
- The law enforcement agency believes the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death.
- The law enforcement agency has conducted an investigation that has verified that an abduction has taken place or ruled out alternative explanations.
- Sufficient information is available to distribute to the public that could assist in locating the abducted child, suspect, or the vehicle used in the abduction.
What is an 'Athena Alert?'
A big change to note is one that came of out the 2023 Texas Legislative session.
On June 13, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 3556 into law, which immediately took effect. The law is commonly referred to as the “Athena Alert” bill in honor of 7-year-old Athena Strand, who was kidnapped and murdered in Wise County in 2022.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the law allows law enforcement to request activation of the AMBER Alert system even if the criteria have not been verified.
The law allows local law enforcement to request an AMBER Alert provided they know a child is missing but have not verified the AMBER Alert criteria, DPS said. It is up to the chief law enforcement officer of the agency to request the activation.
According to DPS, under these circumstances, a local area AMBER Alert would be activated in the following areas:
- Within a 100-mile radius of the location from which the child is believed to have gone missing or the location in which the child was last seen; and
- In all counties adjacent to the county from which the child is believed to have gone missing, or the county in which the child was last seen.
When an alert has been activated, DPS asks all Texans to pay attention to alert messages and to be observant of their surroundings. If an alert is posted either on a highway sign or information is shared in other formats such as broadcasts or social media, take time to read and digest the information.
Once the description of the child, suspect or vehicle is shared, be aware of possible matches. Texans should immediately call 9-1-1 if they have information to share with law enforcement.
What to do when someone goes missing
Thousands of people go missing every year across the United States, and there are organizations and law enforcement agencies that work to bring them home to loved ones.
The Texas Center for the Missing is an organization with Houston roots that works to educate loved ones and authorities on finding the lost.
From resources that deal with missing children to endangered adults, the nonprofit organization has compiled a wealth of resources to help.