RIDGELAND, Miss.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cellular South, the largest privately owned wireless provider in the U.S., is joining forces with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to encourage mobile phone users in Mississippi to sign up for free wireless AMBER alerts that can help law enforcement safely recover abducted children.
“These life-saving messages have the potential to reach 96 percent of the public with more than 292 million mobile phone subscribers in the U.S. and more than 15 million mobile phones active in Mississippi”
The wireless AMBER Alert program is a voluntary partnership between the wireless industry, law enforcement agencies and NCMEC to distribute an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases to consumers and businesses who opt in to receive free text messages on their wireless devices.
“These life-saving messages have the potential to reach 96 percent of the public with more than 292 million mobile phone subscribers in the U.S. and more than 15 million mobile phones active in Mississippi,” said Jim Richmond, director of Corporate Communications for Cellular South. “This week marks the 15th anniversary of the launch of National AMBER Alert Awareness program and our goal is to educate and encourage all wireless users to register to receive the free alerts and increase the number of people who may be able to help in recovering abducted children.”
Since its creation in 1997, the AMBER Alert program has led to the safe recovery of 525 abducted and missing children in the U.S., according to Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC. “Wireless AMBER Alerts are a powerful, effective tool to mobilize the public’s help in the search for child abduction victims. They work and cost virtually nothing,” Allen said.
“Since its creation, the AMBER Alert has been about safely reuniting children with their loved ones should the unthinkable happen. The AMBER Alert not only notifies law enforcement, it brings together media, businesses and citizens statewide for that common goal,” said Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephen B. Simpson. “Through the hard work of our investigators at the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the AMBER Alert system is an invaluable tool. We look forward to this continued partnership in the future.”
Since its creation in 2005, nearly 700,000 cell phone users nationwide participate in the Wireless AMBER Alert program, including an estimated 10,000 mobile phone users in Mississippi. “We want to continue to encourage consumers and businesses across the state to sign up to receive free text messages when a child has been abducted in their area and join the effort to help reunite that child with their family,” Richmond said.
The AMBER – “America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response” – Alert program was named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old who was kidnapped and later murdered in Arlington, Texas, in 1996. That tragedy spurred the creation of early warning systems to aid in the recovery of abducted children. Since its creation in 1997, the AMBER Alerts program has helped reunite more than 525 children and their families.
Richmond said consumers and businesses with cell phones can sign up to receive free Wireless AMBER Alerts through one of three methods:
- Send a text message from their cell phone to the short code 26237 with the keyword “AMBER” or “amber” or “SUBSCRIBE” or “subscribe” followed by a space and their five-digit zip code. Users can enter up to five zip codes.
- Log on to www.wirelessamberalerts.org and register online.
- Go to www.cellularsouth.com/amberalert/ and follow the links.
As of this week, the more than 100 million Facebook users in the U.S. can sign up to receive their state’s AMBER Alerts. Mississippi has its own Facebook AMBER Alert page – www.facebook.com/amberalertMS – and users who become a fan will immediately get alerts in their news feed when there is a missing child in their area.
About NCMEC
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Since it was established by Congress in 1984, the organization has operated the toll-free 24-hour national missing children’s hotline which has handled more than 2,528,730 calls. It has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 157,720 children. The organization’s CyberTipline has handled more than 1,000,620 reports of child sexual exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed and analyzed more than 44,099,160 pornography images and videos. The organization works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice’s office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To learn more about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com
About Cellular South
Cellular South is a diversified mobile communications company passionately committed to helping customers get the most out of their wireless devices and services. The nation’s largest privately owned wireless communications provider accomplishes this goal by optimizing customers’ app experience through Discover Apps, providing the most reliable and advanced high-speed nationwide wireless voice and data network, offering industry-leading family and unlimited flat rate voice, text and mobile web plans, and through its online and in-store Discover Centers, which give customers easy, simple and convenient tools, tips, advice and information on how to get the most out of their mobile phone. For more information about Cellular South and its products and services, visit www.cellularsouth.com.
