Facebook launches Amber Alerts in the US to help find missing children

New York (AP) — Facebook users in the US will soon receive Amber Alerts to help find missing children who may be located near them.

Facebook Inc is working with the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children to send the alerts to users’ mobile phones if they are in a search area where a child has been abducted. Facebook says people are already using its site to encourage their friends and family to help find missing children, and that several children have been reunited with their families as a result of information shared on the site.

Last March, a missing 11-year-old girl was found in a South Carolina motel room when a motel clerk called police after seeing an Amber Alert on Facebook, according to the company and reports at the time.