AMBER Alerts Issued for Missing Oklahoma Siblings
Oklahoma Highway Patrol issued AMBER Alerts for two missing kids last seen in the Tulsa area earlier this week.
Aiyana Burcher, 8, and 20-month-old Axton Burcher were last seen with their mother, April Dunn, 28, on July 3.
The children are believed to be in a gold 2006 Honda Odyssey with Oklahoma license plate ODN904. The vehicle has no rear windshield and a large crack on the front windshield.
The missing children are possibly with their father, Devyn Burcher, 27, who was recently released from prison with an ankle monitor.
Devyn Burcher has reportedly cut off the ankle monitor and left his residence prior to the disappearance, officials said.
Aiyana Burcher is two feet, six inches tall and weighs about 40 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Her little brother, Axton Burcher, is about two feet tall and weighs 30 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.
Any person with information on the Amber Alert is asked to call 911.
What is an Amber Alert?
As of 2023, 1,200 children were found through the AMBER Alert system and 180 children were rescued because of the emergency alerts.
"Every child featured in an AMBER Alert has been reported missing to law enforcement. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of a missing child," Alan S. Nanavaty, Executive Director of Special Programs for National Center for Missing & Exploited Children , in a previous interview with Newsweek.
Nanavaty said on average, there are less than 200 AMBER Alerts issued each year. The alerts are broadcast through radio, TV, road signs, cellphones, and other data-enabled devices. The AMBER Alert system is being used in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Indian country, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Newsweek created a map using 2022 data showing states have seen the most Amber alerts in 2022. According to the data, there were 31 Amber Alerts in Texas in 2022.
The first AMBER Alert was issued in 1996. The notification, which stands for America's Missing Broadcast Emergency Response, has recovered at least 1,074 abducted children around the country.
Throughout the years, however, not all missing children are found and there are still 37 active alerts .
"Obviously we would want ever case of a missing child to be resolved and for the child to be recovered alive," Nanavaty told Newsweek.
The alerts serve as just one tool to help find missing children. Last year alone, Nanavaty said her organization had 20,000 children missing reported to the organization. Around 90% of those children were found.
"Since we've been tracking AMBER Alerts, since early 2005 timeframe, 99% of the children have been recovered," Nanavaty said. "It's not a good or bad thing. It's just what it is, and law enforcement continues to work on the cases."
In the past, the alerts were sent out through law enforcement and over television. A case stays under the supervision of a case manager at the NCMEC, according to Nanavaty. There are managers for different lengths of time that a child has been missing.
