Record number of Amber Alerts issued this week in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - Indiana has seen a record number of Amber Alerts in the past week — the most ever.

And with one exception, the alerts have been effective.

"It's unprecedented to have four Amber Alerts issued in the last seven days," an Indiana State Police spokesperson said. "In the history of the Amber Alert system, we don't believe that's ever been the case before."

When 17 year-old Madison Lloyd went missing, Sheridan Police knew they had to act.

“It's not something we deal with every day,” explained Chief Deputy Marshal Kevin Garrison of the Sheridan Police Department.

The teen was with 20 year-old Dustin Fisher, an escaped convicted felon and registered sex offender. That combination led to the town's first ever Amber Alert.

“After talking with (her) mom, and mom telling us that she felt that her daughter was in danger because of who she was with--because of his history-- is what the deciding factor was to have the Amber Alert issued,” said Garrison.

Madison was found safe in Terre Haute. Dustin Fisher was arrested.

“I think the question you'd be asking me if something happened to that young lady is why didn't you issue an Amber Alert,” said Indiana State Police Captain Dave Bursten.

Indiana State Police declare the alert, but local police agencies request it.

The Sheridan case was one of four in just the past seven days. A baby and mother taken at gunpoint in Hammond, then found safe. A Greenwood mother who took her non-custodial daughter, again a safe return. But in Elkhart a tragic ending - a mother who abducted, then allegedly murdered her own children.

The national Amber Alert system is turning 20 this year. Amber is an acronym that stands for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response."

It started in Texas, and to date nationwide, 800 children have been rescued and returned home. In Indiana, the Amber Alert system has been activated 44 times since 2003. Fifty-one children have been found safe. Five were deceased.

Indiana State Police have actually declined about 60 percent of requests for Amber Alerts. A police agency must be sure the victim is under 18, is in imminent danger of injury or death and there must be a detailed description of the suspect or the suspect's vehicle.

As technology has evolved, we now get alerts on our phones, which helps get critical information out even quicker.

• RELATED: See Indiana's Amber Alert plan

“Some people think we should have an Amber Alert for any missing child under any circumstance," Bursten said. “And I remind them that if we did that, we'd have an Amber Alert about once an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

In the Sheridan case, it took just 45 minutes to find the missing teen.

“I feel, in my gut and in my heart, that because of the Amber Alert being issued, that's the reason we were able to find her within that hour's time,” said Garrison.