(Ethete, WY) – The Northern Arapaho Business Council thanks Gov. Mark Gordon and lawmakers for bringing to Wyoming the Ashanti Alert, a mechanism to more quickly alert the general public, media members and law enforcement authorities in cases of missing persons. The legislation was sponsored by the Select Committee on Tribal Relations and is a product of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Task Force.
“Anytime a person goes missing, the entire community suffers with worry, fear and the unknown,” said the Northern Arapaho Business Council. “Our Wind River Reservation understands this pain all too well. We thank Gov. Gordon and the Select Committee on Tribal Relations for pushing forward with Wyoming’s adoption of the Ashanti Alert.”
The Ashanti Alert, named for a Virginia 19-year-old who was abducted and killed in 2017, has been adopted by multiple states and establishes a voluntary communications network to aid in the search for missing adults who fall outside the scope of existing AMBER and Silver alerts. The system is initiated by Wyoming Highway Patrol and works by immediately sending notifications to cell phones and other media when a missing adult is reported. Local and tribal law enforcement also will be able to request notifications via the Ashanti Alert system.
“When a missing person is reported and speed matters most, the Ashanti Alert will more quickly notify law enforcement authorities, media members and the public to be on the lookout,” the NABC continued. “We are hopeful this early warning system will result in more safe returns for missing persons in Indian Country and across Wyoming.”