Amber Alert

American  

[am-ber uh-lert] / ˈæm bər əˌlɛrt /

Or AMBER Alert

noun

1. 1. a public alert system that uses broadcast media, text messages, and electronic billboards to spread information about missing persons, especially children.

   2. a public message or announcement that uses this system.

---

Amber alert British  

noun

1. a notification to the general public, such as by commercial radio or electronic traffic-condition signs, regarding an abduction of a child

---

Etymology

Origin of Amber Alert

Backronym from America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response; named after Amber Hagerman, a girl kidnapped and murdered in Texas in 1996

Example Sentences

The California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert on Thursday for two young brothers who are believed to be in imminent danger after allegedly being abducted from their foster care home in Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2025

The California Highway Patrol sent out an Amber Alert on Sunday for “child abduction/taken,” but canceled it just hours later, saying the children had been found.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 10, 2025

Authorities issed an Amber Alert just after 4 a.m. for the abduction of 4-year-old Elowyn Duren and 1-year-old Vaelyn Duren from the city of Berlin.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 1, 2024

The police in Milwaukee asked state officials to issue an Amber Alert.

From New York Times • Nov. 9, 2023

I wonder if the Amber Alert has gone off again—Max and I really have sent the city spinning.

From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi