Statistics

The Analysis of AMBER Alert Cases in 2006 report presents information about cases in which AMBER Alerts were activated in 2006. These cases may involve one or more children and be issued for multiple states.

When an AMBER Alert is issued the case is categorized as one of four types:

• Family Abduction (FA) - involves an abductor who is a family member of the abducted child such as a parent, aunt, grandfather, or stepfather
• Nonfamily Abduction (NFA) - involves an abductor unrelated to the abducted child – either someone unknown to the child and/or the child’s family or an acquaintance/friend of the child and/or the child’s family
• Lost, Injured, or Otherwise Missing (LIM) - involves a case where the circumstances of the child’s disappearance are unknown
• Endangered Runaway (ERU) - the missing child is believed to have run away and is in imminent danger.

The report analyzes cases according to the case type for which the AMBER Alert was issued, not case type at the time of recovery. Based on new information at recovery, law enforcement may determine a case should be re-categorized, for example from an NFA to an ERU. In some instances law enforcement may come to the conclusion a case was a hoax or unfounded. A hoax is a case where an individual falsely reports a child missing, with the intent of misleading law enforcement. An unfounded case occurs when a child is reported missing, but the investigation determines a child was never missing.