Missing person alert types: 40+ and Counting

There are now more than 40 named alerts for missing and endangered persons across the United States. These messages are specific to individual states, and are commonly accompanied by state legislation to identify a vulnerable population that was not previously highlighted in missing persons messages.

For instance, Arizona recently initiated the "Turquoise Alert" described this way:

A Turquoise Alert program establishes a notification system that provides immediate information to the public through issuing and coordinating alerts using various resources following the report of a missing endangered person, including tribal members, who is under the age of 65 and specific activation criteria are met. The goal of the Turquoise Alert is to locate the missing endangered person through efficient information dissemination and communication that results in the safe and expedient recovery. The Turquoise Alert system is cited as "Emily's Law" to honor and memorialize the life of San Carlos Apache Tribal member, Emily Pike.

In comparison, California has initiated the "Feather Alert" described this way:

The California Statewide Feather Alert Program was introduced through Assembly Bill 1314, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, later amended by AB 2348 and AB 1863, established California Government Code Section 8594.13 and authorized a Feather Alert program beginning January 1, 2023. A Feather Alert is a resource available to law enforcement agencies investigating the suspicious or unexplainable disappearance of an indigenous woman or indigenous person. The Feather Alert will provide immediate information to the public to aid in the swift recovery of missing indigenous persons.

Different criteria, different approaches, different states, different names - both stemming from the disappearance of an indigenous person or tribal member.

You can read more about other types of missing person alerts by going here: Cain et al. 2025. and visiting the appendix, which includes alert names, types, and states in which they have been implemented.

This is all background to the WEA that was recently issued on the other side of the U.S., as a "CODI Alert." [Note: CODI Alert was introduced in 2024 and therefore not included in the Cain et al. publication.] A CODI Alert, or Virginia Critical Operation for a Disappeared Child Initiative Alert Program, is "an alert system designed to efficiently inform the public of information regarding a missing child whose disappearance poses a credible threat, as determined by a law enforcement investigation." It is named in memory of 3-year old Codi Bigsby who went missing without an AMBER Alert issued.

In this message, we find the use of the alert type in place of the hazard name (CODI Alert), followed by a description of a person, the location the person was last seen, and a link to more information.

What is important here is the reliance on the alert name to inform the public of two things: the type of hazard (in this case a missing person) and what people are supposed to do. If it is socially expected that people in this state will know and understand that receiving an alert named "CODI Alert" signifies 1) a missing child and 2) they should actively search for the missing person, then the alert is likely to have some level of effectiveness. Increasing public awareness that a child is missing will also increase the likelihood of their safe return.

Our recent research on named alerts has found that people generally do not know what a named alert stands for. However, they are fairly creative with their interpretations (Ashanti alert, for instance, could be interpreted as a person named Ashanti who is missing). In the case of a CODI Alert - which appears as an acronym (in contrast with Codi), one might expect new interpretations. To truly understand the meaning of CODI Alert, the sender is relying on the willingness of the individual receiver to click on the link more more information.

How might we address this "named message" approach to missing persons messages? As with all WEAs that are discussed on The Warn Room, the inclusion of PLAIN LANGUAGE is imperative.

Additional content should indicate

1) that the person is missing and

2) people in the area should help to search for them and

3) if the missing person is located, 911 should be called.

I'd like to end by saying this: every named alert was created because some child, adult, or other vulnerable person was missing and, in most cases, recovered later. This is devastating to families and communities. Of course it is natural to memorialize that person through naming an alert after them so that this kind of tragedy doesn't fall on another person in the future.

But relying on the named alert to motivate the public is a strategy that can cause confusion and delay - when time is of the essence, using a plain language approach that clearly indicates the context and the actions needed can help people engage quickly and effectively without the need to go to a webpage to interpret the original message.

For more information about effective warnings, download the Warning Lexicon and the Post-Alert Lexicon.

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