On Saturday, authorities safely located two teenagers who had gone missing in Arkansas.
Trixie Studer and Sam Smith, both 14 years old, have had their Amber Alerts revoked. The notifications sent out on Friday indicated their last sighting in Ratcliff.
Smith found Studer with him. On Thursday, authorities reported him missing in Wadesboro, North Carolina. Officials claimed the two met online.
Around 7:30 p.m. on Friday, someone last saw Studer near her Ratcliff home.
On Friday evening, an unknown Black driver, whom officials believe to be Smith, was seen purchasing gasoline in Logan County for a silver Kia SUV with black wheels.
What is an AMBER Alert?
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Amber Alert is a nationwide alert system that notifies the public about missing children under the age of 18.
Radio, television, road signs, cellphones, and other data-enabled devices transmit alerts.
The Amber Alert system had helped locate 1,200 children as of last year, and emergency notifications had saved 180 of them.
Before issuing an alarm, the disappearance must meet specific requirements. Abduction, serious injury or death, and specific information about the child, suspect, or vehicle are required.
Law enforcement has reported all children featured in an Amber Alert as missing. “The goal of an Amber Alert is to immediately galvanize the community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of a missing child,” Alan S. Nanavaty, Executive Director of Special Programs for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, told Newsweek.
According to Nanavaty, the number of AMBER Alerts issued each year is typically less than 200. The AMBER Alert system is currently deployed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Indian country, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Active AMBER Alerts
Currently, Tennessee and New Mexico have two active AMBER Alerts for children.
The last sighting of Sebastian Rogers, 15, occurred on February 26. He disappeared from his mother and stepfather’s home in Sumner County, Tennessee. He is characterized as 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs approximately 120 pounds. He has brown hair, brown eyes, and wears glasses. We last spotted him wearing black trousers and a black sweatshirt.
If you have any information about Rogers, please contact the Sumner County Emergency Communications Center at 615-451-3838 or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Kaelani Gonzales, a 5-year-old girl, disappeared on Tuesday. She was last spotted leaving Kirtland Elementary School in Albuquerque with her grandmother, Marianne Garnand, in a black SUV that had no license plate. At the time, she was dressed in a pink sweater, black pants, and white shoes.
If you have any information, please get in touch with the New Mexico State Police at 505-841-9256.
