Amber Alerts Coming to Facebook

Users in area where child has gone missing to receive alerts on mobile phones
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 13, 2015 9:29 AM CST
Amber Alerts Coming to Facebook
Facebook hopes to help find missing children with Amber Alerts.   (Shutterstock)

Facebook users in the US will soon receive Amber Alerts to help find missing children who may be located near them. The social network is working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to send the alerts to users' mobile phones if they're in a search area where a child has disappeared. Facebook says people are already using its site to encourage their friends and family to help find missing children, and that several children have been reunited with their families as a result of information shared on the site.

Last March, a missing 11-year-old girl was found in a South Carolina motel room when a motel clerk called police after seeing an Amber Alert on Facebook, according to the company and reports at the time. (Facebook sharing led to a child porn suspect's surrender last month.)

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