Here's Why Thursday's Amber Alert Was So Sparse

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesotans who own a smartphone were notified Thursday of an Amber Alert related to the suspected abduction of 2-year-old Robert Ramirez.

Ramirez was located and is safe, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said. One suspect has been taken into custody.

However, many residents were confused by the sparseness of the Amber Alert, which simply read:

AMBER Alert: Pope Cty, abducted 2 year old Robert Ramirez, H/M. Check media for photo/info

Patch reached out to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for answers on why the alert was so sparse on details.

"Investigators did not have a suspect name or description or a vehicle description or plate," Jill Oliveira, a spokesperson for the BCA, told Patch.

Oliveira also noted that federally-managed Wireless Emergency Alerts have a character limit and cannot include images or links, which is why the alert told residents to "Check media for photo/info."

H/M is short for "Hispanic male."

The Pope County Sheriff's Office was contacted early Thursday morning about Ramirez being missing. Investigators said Thursday evening that he was "likely abducted."

By Friday morning, Ramirez was found and safe. The Pope County Sheriff's Office is expected to release more information in the case later Friday.

History of Amber Alerts

The Amber Alert System began in 1996 when media in the Dallas, Texas area partnered with local police to develop an early warning system to find abducted children.

Amber stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and was created as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in nearby Arlington and murdered.

Here are the Department of Justice guidelines for Amber Alerts:

• There is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred.
• The law enforcement agency believes that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.
• There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law enforcement to issue an AMBER Alert to assist in the recovery of the child.
• The abduction is of a child aged 17 years or younger.
• The child’s name and other critical data elements, including the Child Abduction flag, have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.