ASSOCIATED PRESS From left, Lauren Cadena, Crystal Ackerman and Cristina Estrada paused yesterday on the front porch of a home in Lancaster, Calif., at a welcome-home party for one of two girls abducted Thursday.

State, police consider
creating ‘Amber Alert’

Such a system helped California
authorities find 2 abducted girls

---

By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

Honolulu police and state transportation officials are hoping to establish a system on Oahu similar to California's "Amber Alert," which helped sheriffs track down a man who abducted two teenage girls at gunpoint Thursday.

But both isle agencies said their efforts are in the preliminary stages, and they have not been discussing the prospect with each other.

Within four hours of the California abduction, the Amber Alert was posted on electronic roadside billboards and radio and television bulletins to give people a description of the suspect's vehicle and a number to call if they see it.

Sheriffs tracked fugitive Roy Ratliff in his stolen white Ford Bronco and shot him dead Thursday, freeing the girls in the back of the vehicle whom Ratliff had abducted 12 hours earlier.

The Honolulu Police Department's Missing Persons Detail has been exploring a similar system but has had discussions only with officials of the Missing Child Center Hawaii, said Jean Motoyama, HPD spokeswoman.

"We haven't talked to anyone at state DOT (Department of Transportation) or any of the private-sector agencies," she said. "Other jurisdictions have used their local broadcasters to get the word out, and we haven't made contact with them. That's why we keep saying this is too early to discuss this."

Carol Hee, Missing Child Center Hawaii coordinator, confirmed her agency is working on a plan with Honolulu police.

"Hopefully, something can be put in place before there is a tragedy," she said.

DOT officials are also checking to see how the state can have its own Amber Alert system, said Jadine Urasaki, DOT deputy director. She said the effort is just getting under way.

"It's real initial," Urasaki said.

The 12 electronic message boards above the H-1 and H-3 freeways are for traffic management and motorist safety, and their use for other purposes could pose a liability risk for the state, Urasaki said.

State transportation officials are checking with U.S. Highway Administration and California officials to see how they were able to use roadside billboards for the Amber Alert.

"That's only what we're doing on our side," Urasaki said. "We don't know what HPD might be proposing to us."

Thursday was the first time California officials used the Amber Alert system, named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman of Arlington, Texas, who was kidnapped in 1996 and later found dead. California had adopted the system just six days earlier.

There are 41 Amber Alert programs across the country, credited with recovering at least 17 children since 1997.