Featured articles in this issue describe how a recovered kidnapped captive became an advocate for missing persons, countering human trafficking, a new perspective on runaways and missing children, the work of two AMBER Alert staff, AMBER Alert's international activities, AMBER Alert in Indian Country, and brief accounts of AMBER Alert cases.
"From Captive to Advocate" describes how Gina Dejesus, who was kidnapped at age 14 and held captive for 9 years until her escape, established The Cleveland Center for Missing, Abducted, and Exploited Children and Adults in 2018. "Combatting Human Trafficking & Child Sexual Exploitation" describes an AMBER Alert and human trafficking training seminar on a community response to high-risk victims of child sex trafficking, as well as a project in Washington state in which detectives investigated the prevalence of predators attempting to victimize children through online contacts. "Rethinking Runaways and Missing Children" develops the argument that police must change the predominant view that young runaways are delinquents to the view that they are at high risk for various types of victimization and police must respond accordingly. Appropriate police responses are recommended. Profiles of AMBER Alert staffers focus on Nona Best, the Director of the North Carolina Center for Missing Persons, and detective Sergeant Patrick Beumler, the Family Violence/Missing Persons Supervisor in Glendale, Arizona. "Amber Alert on the Front Lines: New York" profiles police action in an AMBER Alert case in which a missing 15-year-old girl was unlawfully under the control of her 27-year-old boyfriend. "Amber Alert International" profiles cases in Argentina and Canada. "Amber Alert in Indian Country" describes a 2019 National AMBER Alert in Indian Country Symposium and a proposed law that focuses on accountability for missing and murdered Indigenous people.