A Shelbyville, Ky., teenager credits the state’s first Amber Alert with her
release by abductors and a Pennsylvania boy was returned to his mother thanks to
that state’s Amber program.
According to the Associated Press, the Kentucky teenager said that of the
three men who had captured her at gunpoint and taken her to a motel, two fled
and the remaining one let her go after they saw her picture on TV as part of the
alert. Two of the three were subsequently captured.
The July 31 incident was the alert’s second success in a matter of days. The
week before, in Ridley Park, Pa., according to the Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, a man who had kidnapped and threatened to kill his
8-year-old son turned himself in and released the child unharmed after hearing
the alert.
Last April, the President signed into law a bill creating a national Amber
alert program. It began as a series of state programs stemming from one in Texas
created following the abduction and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman.
With time a key factor in recovering abducted children, broadcasters use
their Emergency Alert Systems (EAS), to quickly air descriptions of missing
children and their possible kidnappers.
