Tallahassee, Fla. (WTXL) - Officials from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement joined Florida’s local, state, federal and private partners today to commemorate National AMBER Alert Awareness Day.
The day is observed annually on January 13 in remembrance of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who as abducted and murdered 18 years ago in Texas. Hagerman's murder inspired the creation of the AMBER Alert system.
According to FDLE, more than 30,000 citizens have signed to receive Florida AMBER Alerts via e-mail. FDLE encourages Floridians to sign up for alerts via text and smartphone notification, to help authorities locate missing children as quickly as possible.
“Since the inception of the Florida AMBER Plan, FDLE has issued 184 AMBER Alerts and 55 children have been located as a direct result,” said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey. “By signing up to receive AMBER Alerts, you could be the key to helping law enforcement find a missing child.”
The FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse issued 10 AMBER alerts and 26 Missing Child Alerts in 2013. Of those children, three were recovered as a direct result of the AMBER Alert system.
