The federal government issues guidelines as to when to issue an Amber Alert, but each state can also make their own rules.
According to the state Office of Legislative Research, Amber Alerts are issued in suspected or confirmed cases of child abductions.
The child must be under the age of 18 barring some special circumstances. Law enforcement also must determine the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death. They also must have enough descriptive information to believe that a broadcast will help.
If an Amber Alert were to be issued, state transportation officials would be notified and it would be posted on the highway signs and all radio and TV stations would get the information.
It’s a similar system to the weather emergency alerts. The state lottery is notified and you would get a text message on your phone.
The Amber Alert system does NOT generally apply to runaway children or kids taken during routine custody disputes.