Cover Story: 2023 – The Road Ahead
Inspired by your input, a compelling new mix of relevant and valuable learning experiences are now in gear
On the Front Lines: Danger at Play
The virtual reality world of social gaming got very real for a Utah teen abducted from home by a fellow gamer—an accused sexual predator from Arizona. The boy was found safe, nearly 800 miles from home, thanks to a good Samaritan.
AATTAP Helps Iowa DPS Child Abduction Response Team (CART) Earn U.S. DOJ Certification
The Iowa DPS team became the 36th federally certified CART in the nation
State of the Union Special Guest: Hawaii’s Kalei Grant
Sex trafficking survivor-advocate Kalei Grant will join U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono at the State of the Union Address Feb. 7, 2023
Allegheny County CART Earns Federal Certification
Pennsylvania CART becomes DOJ-certified with assistance from the AATTAP …
On the Front Lines: Social Media SOS
The social media post simply read, “Help.” But it would transform a report of two runaway teens into a trafficking case requiring an AMBER Alert and intense search for the 14-year-olds.
Driven to Succeed
The most effective Child Abduction Response Teams (CARTs) have “the right personnel, preparation, and leadership support,” says Sergeant Patrick Beumler, who supervises the Glendale, Arizona, Police Department’s Patrol and Emergency Response Units. …
New Jersey’s Gloucester County Child Abduction Response Team (CART) Earns DOJ Certification
State’s first CART becomes federally certified with the AATTAP’s help …
AMBER Alert in Indian Country Technology Toolkits on the Move
When a child goes missing, law enforcement response time is critical. So is having the right tools. An endeavor to donate nearly every technological resource necessary for responding to missing and abducted children cases – a rugged laptop, webcam, digital camera, scanner, and more – is now underway thanks to the AMBER Alert in Indian Country (AIIC) initiative, a component of the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP), funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018.
A Multi-Disciplinary, Multi-Agency Success in Learning and Collaboration: Klamath Falls, Oregon, CART Training
The back story: “I thought, Holy cow – We need more hands on deck immediately.” Tony Rodarte is no stranger to high profile cases. He retired from the Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff’s Department in 2018 after 20 years – his last 11 in Homicide. But what always stuck out to him during his career were […]
On the Front Lines: Road to Recovery
The ordeal of 11-year-old Gabriel Daugherty – known for a bright smile, spirited T shirts, and smart black glasses – had begun 12 days earlier in LaGrange. On Thursday, April 28, Gabriel’s non-custodial father, Addam Daugherty, picked up his son for a pre-approved trip to Six Flags near Atlanta, about an hour’s drive north. The plan was for Gabriel to return home Sunday, May 1.
Press Conference Highlights: AATTAP presents at the August 4, 2022, World Day Against Trafficking in Persons Event, Chula Vista, CA
“What can we all do better? What can we do to be part of the change needed to fight human trafficking?” asked Alma Tucker, founder of International Network of Hearts – a group that works with survivors of human trafficking. The answer lies in collaboration and training. And the stakes couldn’t be higher. By Jon […]
Hawaii: Newly-graduated officer rescues child just 6 minutes after she was reported missing
Six minutes after a 5-year-old autistic girl was reported missing, an officer just two weeks into his first assignment rapidly responded to a law enforcement alert, identifying and safely recovering the child. Amazingly, he had noticed the child just moments before standing on the porch of a neighbor’s home when heading out for his patrol […]
AMBER Alert on the Front Lines: A Multi-State Success Story
It began as an ordinary situation that progressively got worse. The case of missing 3-year-old Noah Clare started on November 7, 2021, after his non-custodial father didn’t bring him back to his home in Gallatin, Tennessee.
The next day, Noah’s mother, Amanda Ennis, contacted the Gallatin police to get an emergency motion to suspend parenting time and a temporary restraining order against Noah’s father, Jacob Clare. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) issued an Endangered Child Alert for Noah Clare and a 16-year-old cousin accompanying him.
2022 Symposium In Review
By Denise Gee Peacock At the close of the 2022 AMBER Alert and AMBER Alert in Indian Country Virtual Symposium March 29-30, family survivor Amy Bloxom shared two unsettling details – ones that no doubt strengthened participants’ resolves to keep people from ever enduring what Amy’s family has. The day of her talk, March 30, […]
1st & Goals:
By Paul Murphy Janell Rasmussen spent more than 20 years working in public safety, developing, implementing, and operating multiple statewide law enforcement programs. In March 2021, she became the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) Administrator, following Jim Walters’ retirement. Early Life and Career Rasmussen grew up in Mapleton, a small town in […]
Michigan Missing Persons Clearinghouse Analyst Jolene Hardesty Appointed to the Not Invisible Act Commission
The AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program is so happy to congratulate Jolene Hardesty, Missing Persons Clearinghouse Analyst for the Michigan State Police on her recent appointment by Michigan Governor Whitmer to the Not Invisible Act Commission! The new U.S. Department of Interior commission will combat the epidemic of missing persons, murder, and trafficking […]
AMBER Alert on the Front Lines: Illinois
Illinois woman honored for responding to an AMBER Alert and saving baby tossed in a ditch
AMBER Alert on the Front Lines: Texas
Miracle in Texas: AATTAP Child Abduction Response Team expert’s help contributes to safe recovery of toddler missing four days
Growth Sector: Navajo Nation
Yes WEA Can
With the Navajo Nation’s COVID-19 emergency response in high gear, tech leader Christopher Becenti is closing ‘the digital divide’ to make life safer in his community
CART: Early Preparation Is Essential for Successful Child Recoveries
Hear from AATTAP’s CART Program Coordinator, Derek VanLuchene as he is featured in this great overview of and update on CART, which is now evolving and strengthening nationwide! Derek was recently interviewed for OJJDP’s ‘At a Glance’ publication, and offered great insights into AATTAP’s vision for CART and information on the program. “We work hard […]
AMBER Alert on the Front Lines: Connecticut
Found in 60 minutes: Autistic child quickly recovered safely after Connecticut AMBER Alert
2021 National AMBER Alert & AMBER Alert in Indian Country Symposium
First combined AMBER Alert and AMBER Alert in Indian Country Symposium unites AMBER Alert Partners across U.S.
Participants collaborate and learn from leaders, experts and family members of abducted children through a live, virtual symposium
AMBER Alert on the Front Lines: Washington
Two semi-trucks are now rolling down Washington roadways with images and information about a four-year-old girl who disappeared nearly two decades ago. The Washington State Patrol’s Missing and Unidentified Missing Persons Unit teamed up with Kam-Way Transportation to place age-progressed photos of Sofia Juarez on two of its trucks. The trucks are part of the […]
AMBER Alert on the Front Lines: Missouri
Three men burst into a St. Joseph, Missouri, home and took a two-year-old girl at gunpoint and then fled with the child. Police say the non-custodial father had a physical confrontation with the mother before leaving. The alleged abduction took place on March 15, 2021, at 3:30 p.m. Authorities received the call about the kidnapping […]
2021 National Missing Children’s Day
Missing Children’s Day is celebrated in the U.S. and around the globe. Annual remembrance reminds everyone to join the fight to bring missing and abducted children home.
AMBER Alert on the Front Lines: Minnesota
The premise of the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds” is that cars can be stolen in a minute or less. Unfortunately, that short time frame was the real-life situation after a mother left her one-year-old son in the back of her vehicle to grab something from their Minneapolis, Minnesota, home before leaving. At 12:21 p.m. […]
AMBER Alert partners share their gratitude for Jim Walters’ leadership
During a virtual celebration, participants shared how Walters provided valuable guidance, support and insights to them, and so many others, during his nearly 7 years as AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program Administrator
Commemorating the 38th National Missing Children’s Day
May 25, 2021: As we come together today as a Nation to commemorate the 38th National Missing Children’s Day, we do so virtually, which we have become accustomed to over the last year. While the world has adapted to social distancing, working from home and communicating virtually, our front-line workers have continued to work diligently […]
AMBER Alert on the Front Lines: Utah
It took only moments for ten-month-old Amila Spratley-Apkey to vanish. Amila’s mother Breesha Spratley left her car running in the driveway with her daughter in the backseat in Ogden, Utah, at 10:45 a.m. on November 4, 2020. The mother ran into her home to use the bathroom and her friend who was in the car […]
AMBER Alert Training During Covid-19
AATTAP offers virtual, instructor-led live training through virtual platforms to ensure child protection professionals’ needs are served.
Meeting the Training Challenges of 2020 and Beyond
As we start the new year it is important for us to look back at 2020 and some of the lessons we learned on how to continue the critical mission of recovering the endangered missing and abducted child, despite the obstacles thrown at us by man or nature. As our partners at the National Center […]
25 years after the abduction of Amber Hagerman, hope and hard work continue
From the Dallas Morning News: “For the first time, police said they have DNA evidence that someday — with new technology that has solved other high-profile cold cases — could be the key to finding her killer.” A hallmark of surviving families is their strength and resilience in keeping hope – active and intentional – […]
California AMBER Alert 2.0
In October 2018, California AMBER Alert Co-Coordinator Ed Bertola recognized the California Highway Patrol (CHP) was in a bind. He had been working for months to improve the state’s AMBER Alert plan, but he did not have everything up as anticipated, and the changes the CHP had made had not been tested. However, when California saw three AMBER Alerts within 24 hours; a decision had to be made to go forward with what was in place.
A Primer for Missing Children’s Day
Florida offers step-by-step plan for making a missing children awareness event memorable
An Enduring Legacy for Amber: 1,000 Success Stories (from missingkids.org)
The original post can be found at https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2020/1000-success-stories For more on Amber’s case, read about continued hard work and hope on the 25th anniversary of her abduction. By Patricia Davis 07-23-2020 A home movie was being shown on the evening news, and Diana Simone stopped what she was doing to watch, curious why they […]
OJJDP Releases 2019 Annual Report
OJJDP has released its 2019 Annual Report to Congress. The report describes OJJDP’s programs and activities during fiscal year (FY) 2019. Find information on the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) and AMBER Alert in Indian Country Program (AIIC) beginning on page 14. OJJDP awarded more than $323 million in FY 2019 to […]
AMBER Alert Training Brought to a Town – or Computer – Near You
Missouri law enforcement receives training, specifically designed for their jurisdictional and geographic needs, on effective response to sex trafficking crimes against children
A Message from AATTAP Administrator Jim Walters: Honoring 2020 National Missing Children’s Day
It goes without saying that Missing Children’s Day 2020 is like no other. The current situation with COVID-19 may impact our ability to gather and recognize those who have done so much to protect children, recover the lost and prosecute the predators, but it has not lessened the importance of the day or the work […]
Wisconsin Task Force Director and Special Agent Honored with the U.S. Attorney General’s Special Commendation
As part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s 37th annual commemoration of National Missing Children’s Day, the Attorney General’s Special Commendation award was presented to Criminal Investigation Director Matthew Joy, Commander of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in Appleton, Wisconsin, and Special Agent in Charge Jesse Crowe, Supervisor of […]
Recognizing Service and Protection for Tribal Communities: 2020 National Police Week
During this 2020 National Police Week, we wish to thank each of you for your service and sacrifice on behalf of the tribal communities across the United States. During these unprecedented times you have stayed strong, placing yourselves on the front lines, facing the dangers of the corona virus while protecting our children and our […]
Recognizing the Importance of the Proclamation
With the signing of a proclamation declaring May 5th as Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives Awareness Day, President Trump has taken a step forward in our nation’s efforts to raise awareness and protect Native American and Alaskan Native communities. Before we can make any real progress, we as a nation must first […]
President Proclaims Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives Awareness Day 2020
As shared from WhiteHouse.gov’s Law and Justice Proclamation on May 5, 2020: The American Indian and Alaska Native people have endured generations of injustice. They experience domestic violence, homicide, sexual assault, and abuse far more frequently than other groups. These horrific acts, committed predominantly against women and girls, are egregious and unconscionable. During Missing and […]
Forthcoming USDOJ update to NISMART will gather
law enforcement data on abductions
The United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) will soon begin outreach to more than 4000 law enforcement agencies for assistance in updating and expanding data and analysis on stranger abductions of children. This effort – the Law Enforcement Survey of Stereotypical Kidnapping – will update the last systematic count which took place in 2011. It […]
AMBER Alert Training Instructor Cited in Recent Forensic Geneology Article
Senior Investigator/Analyst, Lindsey Wade of the Washington State Attorney General’s Office “A detective sits down at her desk and fires up her computer. After taking a gulp of her morning coffee, she glances over at the faded photograph with dog-eared corners pinned to the wall of her cubicle—a daily reminder that this victim is still […]
Family Roundtable: Giving Survivors a Voice
Family roundtable meetings have occurred for more than 15 years with the specific purpose of providing a venue for communication and collaboration between victims, surviving family members and law enforcement.
I Had to Become a Warrior Mom
Warrior Mom: Mother of murdered Navajo girl challenges tribal, federal, state and local leaders to be vigilant at 2019 AMBER Alert in Indian County Symposium
Unwelcome Alliance
Unwelcome Alliance: The tragic ties between abducted children and child sex trafficking are the focus of 2019 National AMBER Alert Symposium
Rethinking Runaways and Missing Children
For five days in February 2018, Washington state detectives posed as underage boys and girls online and received more than 100 responses from persons soliciting sexual activity with them.
Washington Detectives Find No Shortage of Predators Trying to Hurt Children Online
For five days in February 2018, Washington state detectives posed as underage boys and girls online and received more than 100 responses from persons soliciting sexual activity with them.
Combating Human Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation
AMBER Alert and Human Trafficking: Seminar addresses “Hidden Crimes” in Louisiana
From Captive to Advocate
Gina DeJesus uses her personal experience to help find missing and abducted children
Learning from an AMBER Alert
What can you learn from an abducted child’s family after an AMBER Alert? Northeast Ohio’s AMBER Alert program aims to find out.
Training the First Responders
How the Telecommunications Best Practices for Missing and Abducted Children course (TELMAC) promotes readiness from the first report of an endangered, missing, or abducted child.
Ashlynne’s Law AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018
With the passage of this important legislation, the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program is hard at work moving the law into action. A law born out of the tragic abduction and murder of eleven-year-old Ashlynne Mike of the Navajo Nation endeavors to bring increased law enforcement coordination, new and expanded resources, and renewed […]
2018 National Missing Children’s Day
Awards presented in the US Department of Justice Great Hall Missing Children’s Day is recognized annually in Washington D.C., as well as states across the nation and countries around the globe. The U.S. Department of Justice held its 2018 awards ceremony on May 23, 2018, in the Great Hall, with event coordination by the Office […]
2018 National AMBER Alert Symposium
The 2018 National AMBER Alert Symposium, held in Orlando, Florida, May 15-17, 2018, was attended by more than 100 partners including AMBER Alert Coordinators, Missing Persons Clearinghouse Managers, Child Abduction Response Team (CART) Coordinators and other child protection officials. More than 40 states, federally recognized tribes, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico were represented at this […]
2018 Family Roundtable Event
On June 21-22, 2018, the AMBER Alert Training & Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) hosted the 2018 Family roundtable on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Plano, Texas. This year’s panel was made up of 13 family members of missing and abducted children from across the country. […]
The Future of Child Protection
AMBER ALERT TRAINING & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR SHARES VISION FOR PROTECTING CHILDREN Jim Walters has accomplished a lot since becoming AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP) Administrator in July 2014. Nearly 40 years in law enforcement and the military has helped prepare him for the critical task at hand, and he is […]
HOUSE PASSES McCAIN-HEITKAMP BILL TO EXPAND AMBER ALERT SYSTEM ON NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATIONS
The following press release was originally posted on: https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=D8F87771-66A8-47F5-9F83-E598051004BE Washington, D.C. – Last night, the House of Representatives passed the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act, legislation introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) in the Senate that would expand the AMBER Alert child abduction warning system on Native American reservations. Specifically, the legislation would clarify […]
New Service Dog Named for Long Time Child Protection Veteran Ron Laney
This article originally appeared at http://semperk9.org/dogs/laney/ Semper K9 is proud to announce the acceptance of service dog in training Laney into our Service Dogs for Veterans program. Laney is named in honor of USMC Vietnam Veteran Ron Laney and comes to us from our rescue partner Operation Paws for Homes. Ron “Papa Six” Laney was the Associate […]
Never Forgotten
“Never Forgotten” by Kathleen Piccione (Chippewa) Over the holidays I received a package in the mail which contained a framed print of a Native American child. When I looked closely I saw that the print was signed by the artist and included the inscription; “Never Forgotten, In Memory of Ashlynne”. While the artwork itself is […]
CART Exercise in Brazos Valley Unites 26 Agencies
Content courtesy: Amber Alert Network Brazos Valley | www.aanbv.org On Tuesday December 5, 2017 Officers with the Navasota Police Department responded to a report of an abducted child as part of a planned field exercise in conjunction with the Brazos Valley Child Abduction Response Team (BVCART). Throughout the day over 70 responders from 26 different […]
AMBER Alert Training Highlights – Fall 2017
Just a month before Hurricanes Maria and Irma brought massive devastation in Puerto Rico, law enforcement officers in the U.S. territory had fortunately received training on how to find missing and abducted children. The AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program’s event held August 23-24, 2017, had more than 450 participants representing all 13 regions […]
Justice for Ashlynne
NATIVE AMERICAN GIRL’S DEATH MAY SAVE COUNTLESS LIVES All eleven-year-old Ashlynne Mike and her nine-year-old brother Ian did was accept a ride home from their school’s bus stop in Lower Fruitlands, Arizona. When it was over, Ashlynne had been raped and murdered and her brother Ian was left wandering in the desert. On October 27, […]
2017 AMBER Alert Symposium
PATTY WETTERLING CHALLENGES AMBER ALERT PARTNERS TO NEVER GIVE UP HOPE Patty Wetterling fought back tears while describing how she learned her son’s body had been found after nearly three decades of searching and hoping he was still alive. On October 22, 1989, her eleven-year old son Jacob was riding his bike when he was […]
Why an AMBER Alert May Never Be Issued
A yearlong study on sex trafficking in Las Vegas found the majority of victims were teenagers under the threat of violence from their perpetrators—and more than half of all underage victims were never reported missing. The results of the study have broad implications for the AMBER Alert program because law enforcement and others may never […]
“She Was a Sweet Girl and Did Not Deserve to Die”
Casey Jo Pipestem was raised in Oklahoma City as a member of the Seminole Tribe. Casey’s grandmother raised her until she passed away when Casey was just 7 years old. She then lived with other relatives, but found it difficult to fit in while living in rural communities. Casey dropped out of high school, moved […]
A Victim’s Story: We Have to Remember Who We Are to Break the Cycle of Violence
Jeri Jimenez has had a lifetime of trauma. She was molested at age 4, grew up in a family with physical and sexual violence and became a victim of sex trafficking after leaving her violent husband. Jimenez is a member of the Klamath Tribe. During the Tribal Symposium, she shared her story with tribal […]
2016 TRIBAL SYMPOSIUM
The Tribal Child Protection Leadership Forum and Symposium began with a traditional Native American blessing that included the words, “Oh child where are you?” The events took place in Scottsdale, Arizona, July 19-21, 2016, and included representatives from more than 25 tribes who shared lessons learned and experiences with AMBER Alert Coordinators, Missing Persons Clearinghouse […]