Facebook's AMBER alerts for missing children: They work, says S.C. mom
As of today those AMBER alerts about missing children聽聽can do a whole lot more good since they will be both current and geographically targeted.
Do they make a difference? Just ask one sharp-eyed mom, Carol Gause of Florence, S.C., who saved a little girl last March as the result of checking her Facebook news feed on her iPad while at work.
Until now, spotting AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) alerts on Facebook was a hit or miss kind of situation, depending on individuals to spot the alerts in the news media or Facebook and then posting or reposting them to their circles.
鈥淭he new initiative will deliver AMBER Alerts to people鈥檚 News Feeds in targeted search areas after a child has been abducted and the National Center has issued an alert,鈥� according to a press release issued by Facebook.
Since being set up in 1996, AMBER alerts have resulted in the recovery of more than 720 children, .听
According to the media release, a law enforcement agency determines the range of the target area for each alert. The number of alerts people will see depends on how many alerts are issued in their area 鈥� some people may see a few each year and many people will likely get no alerts at all. The alerts will appear in the Facebook News Feed, but will not trigger any notifications to a person鈥檚 phone.
Ms.听聽in a promoted post as part of today鈥檚 media campaign by Facebook to announce the new partnership with the AMBER Alert system and Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The incident happened last March and resulted in saving聽聽who had been kidnapped by her father Timothy Virts, after he murdered her mother.
Gause, whose four children are now adults, runs a motel in Florence, N.C.
聽鈥淚 run the office here [at the Colonial Inn motel] and while I鈥檓 not really a Facebook kinda person, I do check my email and scan my newsfeed on my iPad once a day at my desk here in the office,鈥� Gause says in a telephone interview.
鈥淎 friend of mine had posted this alert about a little blond girl who had been taken by her father. Usually I just ignore those alerts thinking they have nothing to do with me. They鈥檒l never involve me,鈥� she recalls.
However, Gause was certain that the father and daughter who had checked-in to the motel the night before were the ones in the alert.听Because they had stood side-by-side at her counter and the Facebook alert showed pictures of father and daughter side-by-side Gause made the connection, she says.
鈥淚n that split second I, in my mind, I thought 鈥楧o you want to get involved? How could it affect me, my business,鈥� she recounts. 鈥淭hat was just a split-second and I knew I had to call police. A lot of people don鈥檛 want to get involved and I would tell them from what happened with me that there is no other choice to be made 鈥� get involved.鈥�
Gause checked the guest register and the names matched, so she called local police to report that the father and child were there.
Asked how her experience has affected her life, Gause says that 鈥渘ow I take that extra time to pay attention to the alerts wherever I see them because you just never know.鈥�
鈥淚t opened my eyes. It never occurred to me it would come to my door,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he Lord was in everything that day. I know a lot of people don鈥檛 want to see it that way, but I do. Had someone else been at the desk when they signed in, had I not looked at the news feed, had I decided not to get involved, it could have all been very different.鈥�
Gause has a message for those who spot the new AMBER alerts.
鈥淭ake the time,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to be a parent. You can be anyone, anywhere. You may think you can鈥檛 make a difference. You can. You just don鈥檛 know. You could be the one to make a difference.鈥�
