Utah company shows off new Amber Alert GPS

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

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SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah company has just released a new device meant to track your kids' every move. It's called the Amber Alert GPS, and the creator hopes it will save a child if he or she is abducted while wearing one.

Amber Alert GPS is actually endorsed by the mother of "Amber," who the alert is named after.

It's a small device you put in your child's backpack, or in their pocket, and you'll know exactly where they are every second.

Sen. Bob Bennett's grandson Sam tested out the device for us. He and his dad went outside and wandered around, then Sen. Bennett called them.

"All right, we're going to find out where you are 'cause you're in an undisclosed location," Bennett said.

Online, we were able to tell exactly where Sam was.

**Did you know…**

The murder of an abducted child is a rare; an estimated 100 such incidents occur in the U.S. each year. However, 76 percent of abducted children who are murdered are dead within three hours of the abduction. *- Case Management for Missing Children Homicide Investigation, 1997*

"I think it provides an extra piece of mind to parents worried about this kind of thing," said Jim Bennett, Sam's dad. Russ Thorton came up with the concept after briefly losing his son.

"I lost him for 45 minutes, and it was a life-changing experience," Thorton said.

For the past four years, Thorton and his team have been working on this GPS, which is now available in the United States and Canada.

**Did you know…**

• 800,000 children under 18 are missing each year (avg of 2,000 reported missing each day) • 200,000 children were abducted by family members • 58,000 children were abducted by nonfamily members • 115 children were the victims of "stereotypical" kidnapping (involving someone the child doesn't know, or knows only slightly) *- [National Center for Missing & Exploited Children](http://www.missingkids.com/)*

"It's not only going to save lives, but protect children," Thorton said. "It works anywhere you can get a cell phone signal. It's not waterproof, but it's water resistant. So, it can take some wear and tear." Geared for kids ages 2 to 10, parents can set perimeters they don't want their kids to leave--a yard, for example. If the children do leave the area, the parent will receive an instant text message.

**Largest number of missing children:**

1. Runaways 2. Family abductions 3. Lost or injured 4. Nonfamily abductions *- [National Center for Missing & Exploited Children](http://www.missingkids.com/)*

The system also has a hot and cold sensor. If the child is accidentally left in a hot car, his or her parent will get a text. And if the child is in trouble, he or she can just hold down the button, sending an instant text message to the parent. "This seems to be one more tool that will help in locating children," said Paul Murphy, Amber Alert coordinator for the Utah Attorney General's Office.

Though Utah's Amber Alert program cannot endorse a product, Murphy likes the idea.

When we asked Sam what he thought about it, he said didn't seem to mind carrying it around.

The Amber Alert GPS works on any phone that can send and receive text messages. It costs $379 and about $10 a month to subscribe; it's like a cell phone: the more you use it, the more it will cost you monthly.

E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com