The AMBER Plan was established in 1996 as a legacy to Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped and murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas. The tragedy angered the residents of Arlington, who later contacted radio stations in the Dallas area and suggested they broadcast special missing person alerts for children to help prevent such incidents in the future.
The AMBER Plan (AMBER now stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) is a voluntary partnership between law enforcement agencies and broadcasters to issue urgent missing person bulletins in child-abduction cases. Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System (EAS), formerly called the Emergency Broadcast System, to air a description of the missing child and the suspected abductor.
Ruppel said his proposal differs from the Amber Alert system for missing children because information about seniors would go only to local media outlets. Amber Alerts are broadcast statewide and nationally as needed. Ruppel said local missing person alerts would work better for seniors, because most missing seniors are found within 10 miles of their homes.
Support is Not Universal
Similar legislation has met opposition in some states. A bill to create Amber Alerts for seniors was vetoed in New York, for example, because the governor felt it would make the missing person alerts too common.
Supporters counter that the alerts would only be as common as the need for them, and it would be due to the increasing number of senior citizens who become disoriented and turn up missing.
Testifying before the Indiana House Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs about her mother’s 15-hour disappearance, Napier said that having a local missing person system for seniors is important, particularly as the population ages and more seniors wander from their homes. "It is all too common of an occurrence," she said.
What You Can Do
If you are interested in having similar missing person legislation for seniors passed in your state, let your local lawmakers know how you feel. Contact your state representatives to share your views.
