SALT LAKE CITY -- Monday marked the 23rd anniversary of the date that little Rachael Runyon's body was found in Sunset. It was also the day the Utah Attorney's General Office launched the Endangered Person's Advisory, a new plan to recover missing persons who do not fit the criteria of the Amber Alert. The 3-year-old Rachael was abducted while playing in a park near her home in 1982. Her body was found days later "The AMBER Alert has been an extremely effective tool for bringing abducted children home. With the addition of the Endangered Person Advisory, police officers now have a simple, clear-cut plan to find others who may be in danger," said Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

The Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification will distribute the advisory to law enforcement, media, businesses and ports of entry.

Law enforcement can also send the advisory by telephone to residents living in the area where the person was last seen. Information will go to National Crime Information Center and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children if the missing person is under the age of 18.

While the Amber Alert has proven successful, guidelines for its use are strict, often precluding law enforcement from using it.

The Endangered Person Advisory could be used for a number of cases that don't fit the AMBER Alert criteria: a 19-year-old kidnap victim, a 75-year-old Alzheimer's patient, a 14-year old missing girl with suspicious computer correspondence or an 11-year-old scout lost in a wilderness area.

Such was the case of Brennan Hawkins, the Bountiful Boy Scout lost in the Uintahs this summer.

"We certainly could have used something like this," said Jody Hawkins, mother of Brennan, the 11-year-old who was lost for four days in the High Uintahs without food or water. "We needed the public's help and we needed it immediately. The Endangered Person Advisory will be a real blessing for other parents searching for their children."

Before issuing an Endangered Person Advisory, a law enforcement officer must consider four criteria:

∞ Is the person missing under suspicious circumstances?

∞ Is the person in danger because of age, health, mental or physical disability, environment or weather conditions or in the company of a potentially dangerous person?

∞ Is there information that could assist the public in the safe recovery of the missing person?

∞ Do the circumstances fail to meet the criteria for an AMBER Alert? (If they do meet the criteria for an AMBER Alert, immediately follow the protocol to issue an AMBER Alert).

"Broadcasters want to serve the public and this is another way we can serve and even save lives," says Utah Broadcasters Association President Dale Zabriskie.

Here are reasons why missing children face serious risks:

∞ A Washington state study showed that 67 percent of child abduction homicides began as a missing person or runaway case.

∞ The Department of Justice statistics for 2004 indicate that 70 percent of missing children are endangered because of sexual or physical assault, criminal companions, drug use or they are under age 13.

∞ A recent questionnaire of Utah homeless youth found that 37% had been sexually assaulted and 50% had attempted suicide.

"The partnership between law enforcement and the media has proven to be a good one with the AMBER Alert," Woods Cross Police Chief Paul Howard said.

Howard, representing the Utah Police Chiefs Association for the Utah AMBER Alert Advisory Committee, continued, "In the same way, the Endangered Person Advisory will let thousands of people know quickly that someone may be in harm's way,"

A slight change is also being made in the criteria for Utah AMBER Alerts. The alerts will only be issued for children under the age of 18. The original criteria included an individual with a proven mental or physical disability.

"Utah's criteria is now in line with what the Department of Justice recommends for AMBER Alerts. However, the Utah AMBER Alert Advisory Committee didn't want to make the change until the Endangered Person Advisory was up and running," said Paul Murphy, spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office and Utah AMBER Alert Coordinator.

mwilliams@davisclipper.com