Amber Alert Canceled, Missing 12-Year-Old Girl Found Safe

The Amber Alert for a missing 12-year-old girl in Oklahoma City has been canceled by law enforcement.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol canceled the alert and Del City Police confirmed the girl was found safe.

Authorities said the girl had not been seen since Dec. 4 at a home on SE 44th St. in Oklahoma City.

The Del City Police Department said she was in a U-Haul truck with Leslie Alexander, a 65-year-old woman.

OHP originally issued an Endangered Missing Advisory on Saturday at 10:31 a.m. and upgraded it to an Amber Alert at 11:29 a.m. on X/Twitter.

OHP posted that she was found at 1:16 p.m. Del City Police said she was in the area of NE 23rd St. and Coltrane Road.

It's unclear if any arrests have been made.

This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates.

Often times when a child goes missing people will ask why an Amber Alert was or was not sent out.

There are some common misconceptions about the Amber Alert System but here are some details to remember.

What Constitutes An Amber Alert?

Oklahoma does not issue an Amber Alert for every missing child. According to the Office of Justice Programs, certain criteria have to be met before law enforcement can make that call.

The child is aged 17 years or younger.

There is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction or kidnapping has occurred. AMBER Alerts are not issued for runaways, or for situations where the subject willingly left unless there is believed to be a risk to their safety.

As such, law enforcement must have reason to believe that the child is in imminent danger of bodily injury or death.

For an alert to be issued law enforcement needs a description of the victim, suspect, and suspect's vehicle.

The child’s name and information have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.

Not every piece of criteria has to be met at once, but law enforcement can use the guidance to make a decision.

In cases where an abduction is not involved has disappeared, law enforcement can issue an Endangered Missing Alert. These alerts are often reported by Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

What Happens Once The AMBER Alert Criteria is Met?

Once law enforcement has decided to issue an AMBER Alert they notify broadcasters as well as wireless devices such as mobile phones.

How Was The AMBER Alert Created?

The AMBER Alert System started in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth police partnered with local broadcasters to develop a system to help find abducted children. AMBER stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and also references 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and killed in Arlington, Texas in January of '96. Over the next several years other states adopted the AMBER Alert system.

In April of 2003, President Bush signed The Protect Act which his words "formally established the federal government's role in the Amber Alert system and will make the punishment for federal crimes against children more severe."

How Effective Has the AMBER Alert System Been?

According to the US Department of Justice, The AMBER Alert program has contributed to the recovery of 1,127 children as of January 2, 2023, and wireless emergency alerts resulted in the rescue of 131 children. Due to the strict criteria only a few hundred AMBER Alerts are issued each year with 254 issued in 2021. For more statistics CLICK HERE

The DOJ says AMBER Alerts also serve as deterrents with studies showing that some perpetrators release the abducted child after hearing the AMBER Alert.