Rochester Police have issued an AMBER alert for a seven-year-old child in New York who may be in immediate danger.
Akelise Johnson, 7, was last seen at 11:22 a.m. Tuesday on North Water Street in Rochester, New York. Police believe Akelise is dating Celeta Johnson.
Celeta, 35, was last seen leaving the house on foot with Akelise at around 1899 N. Water St. It is currently unclear whether the two are related.
AMBER Alert
Akelise is described as bald, black-haired and about 1.37 m tall. He weighs 27 kg and has brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a grey T-shirt, colourful shorts and white, square glasses.
Celeta is said to be 1.70 m tall and weigh 77 kg.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or 1-866-NYS-AMBER.
What is an Amber Alert?
By 2023, 1,200 children will have been found through the AMBER alert system and 180 children will have been rescued as a result of the emergency alerts.
“Every child who appears in an AMBER Alert has been reported missing to law enforcement. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to immediately mobilize the community to help locate and safely recover a missing child,” said Alan S. Nanavaty, executive director of special programs at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, in a previous interview with Newsweek.
Nanavaty said that on average, fewer than 200 AMBER alerts are issued each year. The alerts are distributed via radio, television, road signs, cell phones and other data-enabled devices. The AMBER alert system is used in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Indian Territory, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Newsweek has created a map using 2022 data showing which states had the most Amber Alerts in 2022. According to the data, there were 31 Amber Alerts in Texas in 2022.
Recently Active Amber Alerts
A Wisconsin toddler is still missing, more than three months after an Amber Alert was issued for the child.
Elijah Vue was last seen in Two Rivers on February 20 while visiting his mother’s boyfriend, 39-year-old Jesse Vang. When Vang woke up from a three-hour nap around 11 a.m., the three-year-old child was gone.
“He was last seen wearing gray sweatpants, a long-sleeved dark-colored shirt, and red and green dinosaur-print loafers,” the Amber Alert said.
Vang and 31-year-old Katrina Baur, Vue’s mother, are being held in the Manitowoc County Jail on child neglect charges.
Also currently being sought is 15-year-old Sebastian Rogers of Tennessee. He disappeared from his mother and stepfather’s home in Sumner County, Tennessee on February 26.
It is said that Rogers “suffers from a medical condition that may affect his ability to return safely without assistance.”
