Oklahoma’s Alert System: How Missing Person Messages Are Issued

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol periodically sends out emergency alerts in an effort to locate missing people.

OHP sends these messages to mobile devices in the approximate area of the emergency. These messages are sent through the same system that sends emergency weather alerts through government agencies.

Each state has its own alerts, some of which Oklahoma does not issue. Alert criteria may vary from state to state.

How Do Alerts Get Issued?

Oklahoma Highway Patrol alerts start with local law enforcement, who then reach out to OHP if they believe an alert is necessary.

What Is An Endangered Missing Persons Alert?

An Endangered Missing Persons Alert is pretty self-explanatory, it is used when a person is believed to be missing and endangered. In order to issue the alert, law enforcement has to verify that the person is in danger, according to Center For The Missing.

Here are some reasons a person could be in danger:

1. If the missing person has been diagnosed with a developmental disorder or intellectual disability, verified by a doctor.
2. An investigation has confirmed that the disappearance poses a credible threat to the health and safety of the missing person.
3. The report has been made within 72 hours of the disappearance.
4. There is enough information about the disappearance that the alert would be helpful in locating the missing person.

What Is An Amber Alert?

Amber Alerts are designed to find children who have been abducted and are believed to be in danger, according to the Department of Justice. Sometimes, an Endangered Missing Persons Alert will become an Amber Alert, once all criteria have been verified.

There are specific criteria that must be met for an Amber Alert:

1. Law enforcement must believe the child has been abducted.
2. Law enforcement must believe the child is in danger of serious injury or death.
3. There is enough information about the victim and abduction for an Amber Alert to be helpful in recovering the child.
4. The abduction is of a minor.
5. The child’s information has been entered into the National Crime Information Center system.

What Is A Silver Alert?

Silver Alerts are issued when a person over the age of 60 and diagnosed with a disease that affects memory—like dementia or Alzheimer's—is missing, OHP says. According to Oklahoma law, law enforcement must determine that the missing person's disappearance is due to cognitive impairment or that it poses a credible threat to the senior. Law enforcement must also verify that issuing the alert would be helpful in locating the missing person.

What Is A Blue Alert?

Blue Alerts are used to locate dangerous suspects who have killed or injured an officer, according to OHP. Blue Alerts can also be issued when a suspect poses a credible threat to law enforcement, or when an officer is missing, according to the DOJ.

What Is A Kasey Alert?

A Kasey Alert was established on Nov. 1, 2023, from House Bill 1077. It is named after Kasey Russell, a 29-year-old Cherokee Nation citizen who went missing in 2016, according to the Oklahoma House of Reps.

A Kasey Alert is issued when an adult (18-59) is critically missing, which means their whereabouts are unknown and they are believed to be abducted.

FROM FEB. 2024: In Focus On Kasey Alerts And Oklahoma's Alert System

What Is An Ashanti Alert?

If an adult is critically missing AND has special needs, the alert is classified as an Ashanti Alert, according to the Bureau of Justice.

This alert was created on Dec. 31, 2018, in honor of Ashanti Billie, a 19-year-old woman in Virginia.

She disappeared on Sept. 19, 2017, in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and her body was found in North Carolina two weeks later.

"The amount of time and distance traveled between Ashanti’s abduction and the discovery of her body, as well as falling outside the scope of other alert programs, raised questions regarding the lack of a state, regional, or nationwide missing persons alert system that focused on individuals over the age of 17. Named in her honor, the Ashanti Alert Act aims to solve this problem."