FCC adds national code for missing people in tribal communities

WASHINGTON, DC – The Federal Communications Commission voted to add a new EAS code for missing people who don’t qualify for amber alerts.

More than 188,000 people who fall outside of amber alert’s criteria went missing last year. This alert would use the nation’s Emergency Alert System to send out a message like an amber alert to the public for a rapid and coordinated responses to incidents.

The Missing Endangered Person’s code particularly focuses on people in tribal communities of all ages who are at a higher risk of violence, murder and vanishing.

The proposed criteria for the missing endangered persons alert is for: Individuals over the age of 17, missing adults who have special needs or circumstances and missing adults who are endangered or who have been abducted.

The missing and endangered persons code will be transmitted on a voluntary basis over television, radio and wireless phones and manufacturers have a year to implement the code into their equipment.