What is a CLEAR alert? Here's what to know and which states use the alerts
States are filling the gap to help locate more missing people as families advocate for government agencies to add more alert codes beyond the national Amber Alert system.
The Federal Communications Communications bolstered the Ashanti Alert in August by creating the Missing Endangered Person alert code. Law enforcement can use the new program to notify Americans about missing people who don't qualify for an Amber Alert. The agency required broadcasters and cable companies to support the new code by Sept. 8, 2025.
"Put simply, this order will help save lives," FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks wrote in a statement. The FCC previously stated that 188,000 adults were missing in 2023.
The FCC's new code would benefit law enforcement in Texas. There, families lobbied lawmakers to pass legislation to establish the CLEAR Alert, or Coordinated Law Enforcement Adult Rescue, program. Informally, the alert honors victims behind the bill: Cayley Mandadi, D'Lisa Kelley, Erin Castro, Ashanti Billie and the Rest, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on its website.
What is a CLEAR Alert?
A CLEAR Alert is used to help locate missing or kidnapped adults or those in life-or-death situations, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The following requirements are needed for a person to fall under the alert:
- A person is between 18 and 64 years old and whose whereabouts are unknown
- A preliminary investigation verified the adult was in danger
- Alert is requested within 72 hours of the adult's disappearance
- Enough information is available to share with the public to help locate the adult.
Do all states use CLEAR Alert?
Not by name. Virginia State Police Spokesperson Matthew Demlein said the state has its own system for missing adults. The state's general assembly established the Critically Missing Adult Alert program in 2018. It follows similar parameters to those of the CLEAR Alert.
States like Alabama, Florida, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming have alert programs for missing adults older than 17 but younger than 65, according to the Justice Department. A handful of states and territories, like Colorado, use advisories that are shared with news media and posted on respective social media accounts, said Katelyn Jenkin, a major crimes analyst at the Colorado Bureau of Investigations.
"We have five alerts, each will have a different criteria," she said. "It can be anything about the mental capacity, endangerment circumstances and age. It helps the public know who and what we're looking at to locate the person."
What is the Ashanti Alert?
The Ashanti Alert is named after Ashanti Billie, 19, who in September 2017 was reported missing in Virginia and found dead in North Carolina, the Justice Department said. Her age, abduction and death disqualified her from the Amber Alert. Her family advocated for lawmakers in Virginia and Congress to pass the Ashanti Alert Act.
Then-President Donald Trump signed the bill into law, which directed the U.S. Attorney General to establish a communication network for tribal and local law enforcement to use when a person is missing and doesn't fit Amber Alert requirements, according to the Ashanti Alert website. The law doesn't create a mandatory alert program and participation is voluntary.
What does each emergency alert color mean?
Alert colors vary by state with the exception of the Amber alerts. An Amber Alert is for a child under 18 who is missing or endangered. It was named after Amber Hagerman, 9, who was kidnapped and later killed in Texas, according to the Justice Department. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is the nation's clearinghouse for active and archived alerts.
Silver Alerts are typically reserved for missing older adults with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, but other states like Alaska have used them for adults of any age who require caretakers. The alerts aren't used in every state.
Delaware's Gold Alert covers missing people who are older adults, have a disability, are a child or are suicidal, according to the state's Law Enforcement Administration code. Kentucky has a similar program in place.
In California, the state uses Ebony and Feather Alerts for missing Black and Indigenous people, respectively.
Florida has the Purple Alert Plan for missing adults who suffer from disabilities that aren't dementia-related, substance abuse or Alzheimer's, and they are a threat to either themselves or the public, according to the state Department of Law Enforcement.
In Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia and Wisconsin, green alerts are reserved for missing veterans.
Most states will additionally use a Blue Alert to warn people about a person who either seriously injured or killed a law enforcement officer in the line of duty and is on the lam, according to the Justice Department.
No matter the color, Jenkin said the public must remain aware whenever the alerts are sent out.
"They're a tool for law enforcement to engage with the public's eyes and ears to help find missing people," she said.
What happens when alerts are sent out?
For an Amber Alert, a signal is broadcast to radio and television stations to disrupt regular programming, according to the Justice Department's website on the alert. Once sent, the Emergency Alert System plays the nation's alert tone and a description of the child, possible suspect and vehicle used is shared. The text is shown on digital transportation highway signs for drivers.
"AMBER Alerts can also be re-disseminated through lottery, digital billboards, Internet Ad exchanges, Internet Service Providers, Internet search engines, as well as wireless devices such as mobile phones," the DOJ said.
A similar pattern follows for cell phones, with the addition of vibrations and the alert showing up on screens. A multi-state Amber Alert can be sent if police believe the child is being taken across state borders.
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Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter,@KrystalRNurse.