AMBER Alerts for missing children are now available to Facebook users.

Facebook users can sign up to receive AMBER Alert bulletins for their state which will be sent to them through their news feed.  A total of 53 new AMBER Alert pages have been created, one for each state, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.  Facebook users will also be able to share the AMBER Alerts with their friends.

Information about the new initiative was announced today by Facebook, the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).  The announcement was made the day before the 15th anniversary of the abduction and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, namesake of the national AMBER Alert Program.

“As the National AMBER Alert Coordinator, I am pleased to see the growth of the program’s national network, said Laurie O. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs.

“I would like to thank NCMEC and Facebook for working together to develop another way the public can join with us to bring home missing and abducted children.  We each can play our part by being aware and responsive to AMBER Alert postings that we will now see on Facebook."