FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AMBER ALERT PROGRAM EXPANDS TO FACEBOOK

ANNOUNCEMENT COMMEMORATES THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE

ABDUCTION AND MURDER OF 9 YEAR OLD AMBER HAGERMAN

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- January 12, 2011. Life-saving AMBER Alerts are now

available to the millions of people on the social networking service Facebook. Effective
today, Facebook users are able to sign up to receive AMBER Alert bulletins for their
state which will be sent to them through the Facebook “News Feed” feature. 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.

There are more than half a billion users of Facebook. The new Facebook AMBER Alert
pages represent an important expansion of the national AMBER Alert program.

“Everyone at Facebook feels a responsibility to help protect children and, as a former

federal prosecutor and a father of two, I am particularly proud that we are now part of
the AMBER Alert program,” said Chris Sonderby, Facebook Lead Security and
Investigations Counsel. “Our hearts go out to the families of the missing and our
gratitude goes to the officers, volunteers, and other AMBER Alert partners who work
tirelessly to bring them home. We are hopeful that today’s announcement offers these
dedicated officials another useful tool to find and safely recover abducted children.”

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. 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,” said Laurie O. Robinson, Assistant
Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs.
An estimated 800,000 children are reported missing every year. AMBER Alert is a
voluntary partnership involving law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters. An urgent
AMBER Alert bulletin is issued by law enforcement in the most serious child-abduction
cases that meet specific criteria. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize
the entire community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of the child.

“Average people doing average things but paying attention are saving lives and
reuniting families,” said Ernie Allen, President of NCMEC. “With more than 500
million Facebook users this bold initiative will help us mobilize many more people and
bring more missing children home.”

About the AMBER Alert Program

On January 13, 1996, 9-year-old Amber Hagerman went missing while riding her bicycle
in Arlington, Texas. A neighbor heard her scream and saw a man pull her off her bike
throw her into the front seat of his pickup truck and drive away. Local radio and
television stations covered the story. However, four days later Amber’s body was found
in a drainage ditch four miles away. Her kidnapping and murder still remain unsolved.

Although her case has never been solved, her abduction and murder in 1996 lead to the
creation of the national AMBER Alert Program. AMBER stands for: America’s Missing
Broadcast Emergency Response. In response to Amber’s abduction, the Dallas/Fort
Worth Association of Radio Managers teamed up with local law-enforcement in 1997 to
implement the first local AMBER Plan. Since that time, the program has grown into a
seamless network of 120 AMBER plans across the country, and has even reached into
Canada, England, France, Greece, Portugal, Mexico and other countries.

In 2003, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Justice to oversee the AMBER Alert
program designating the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs as
National AMBER Coordinator. To date, the AMBER Alert program has been credited
with the safe recovery of 525 children nationwide.

The primary means for AMBER Alert activation is the Emergency Alert System (EAS),
the broadcast system used for weather emergencies and other public emergencies. The
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created a special code and tone for
AMBER Alerts. Once law enforcement has determined that a child has been abducted
and the abduction meets AMBER Alert criteria, law enforcement notifies broadcasters
and state transportation officials.

To enhance and expand the reach for AMBER Alerts an AMBER Alert Secondary
Distribution System has also been created. These “secondary” alerts are reaching
millions of Americans in many ways including through partnerships with Internet Service
Providers, the Trucking Industry, the Wireless Industry and through the use of Digital
Signage which all help distribute AMBER Alert bulletins to a geographically targeted
audience. The Justice Department has designated NCMEC to coordinate these secondary
distributions. When law enforcement activates an AMBER Alert, they also alert
NCMEC, which coordinates the additional dissemination.
The new Facebook AMBER Alert pages represent an important expansion of the
secondary distribution system and will enable AMBER Alerts to dramatically increase
the reach of and impact of these life-saving bulletins.

Media contacts for more information:

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: (703) 837-6111 or
media@ncmec.org

Facebook: Andrew Noyes, Manager, Public Policy Communications (202) 629-3261

(office), (202) 904-8418 (cell) or noyes@fb.com

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs: Starr Small at

Starr.Small@usdoj.gov and Michelle Person at Michelle.M.Peson@usdoj.gov or call
(202) 307-0703.

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