OPINION — When someone goes missing, every minute matters. Yet for years, many families have learned the hard way that not every disappearance triggers an alert powerful enough to mobilize the public.
Too often, loved ones have fallen into the space between existing systems, not young enough for an Amber Alert, not old enough for a Silver Alert, and left without the broad community awareness that can save lives. The Turquoise Alert was created to address that gap.
It exists because people like Emily Pike — the 14-year-old San Carlos Apache Tribe member whose remains were found Feb. 14, 2025, after she went missing from a Mesa group home — deserve to be seen, searched for and protected with urgency.
