The Child Abduction Amber Alert system is named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old who was abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas, in 1996. The purpose of the system is to quickly notify all South Dakota law enforcement and all South Dakota media as soon as possible after a child has been abducted. This will create a burst of publicity that will enable citizens to recognize the child, the suspect or the vehicle used in the abduction and call law enforcement immediately, thus increasing the chances that the child can be safely returned to his or her family.

How is Amber Alert started? It is started by an individual reporting an abduction to their local law enforcement agency.

The criteria for declaring an Amber Alert is as follows:

• The request to declare an Amber Alert must come from a Law Enforcement Agency.


• There must be credible evidence that a child under 18 years old has been abducted.


• There must be evidence that the child is in danger of bodily harm or death.


• There must be enough credible and useful information from eyewitnesses or other sources that could assist in the safe recovery of the child and arrest of the suspect.