DPS implementing new ‘Clear Alert’ for missing adults

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KTRE) - The Texas Department of Public Safety has created a new alert system that closes the gap between missing children and senior citizens. Texas lawmakers say it will help generate more leads from the public in missing persons cases and lead to more rescues.

“The new CLEAR Alert is a system that will aid law enforcement in locating and rescuing adults that have been kidnapped or abducted and that could be in imminent danger of injury or death,” DPS spokesperson David Hendry said.

Similar to Amber and Silver, the CLEAR Alert will release announcements about missing individuals that are in between the ages of 18 and 65. Lawmakers say its mission is in the title. Each letter represents the name of a victim who did not qualify for other alerts due to their age.

“That age group is a wide range," Angelina County Sheriff Greg Sanches said. "We have a lot of people come in and make reports of a missing person or someone that they normally always have contact with.”

Sanches says this could be a great resource for local law enforcement in their own cases.

“We here at the sheriff’s department really utilize Facebook, but not everybody’s on Facebook," he said. "Now, with this alert, that can go out to everybody that has a phone, to everybody.”

David Hendry with DPS says keeping the public informed is invaluable to finding missing people.

“A lot of the information we’ve received is somebody that’s actually gotten that alert and seen something related to that case,” Hendry.

“Getting the information out there along with pictures of the individual that they’re looking for is a good communication to the public and law enforcement," Sanches said. "The more communications with the public, the better it is.”

DPS reported almost 12,000 missing adults over the age of 18 in 2018. The CLEAR Alert is scheduled to be implemented September 1st.

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