An AMBER Alert has been activated for Yesenia Denise Lopez, a 15-year-old in Seven Springs, North Carolina.
The Lenoir County Sherriff's Office is searching for Lopez. She was last seen wearing a white sweater and black pants, according to the AMBER Alert.
"Earlier today, the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office was notified of a missing juvenile who was last seen on Saturday around 11 p.m.," the sheriff's office posted on Facebook. "Yesenia Lopez was last seen at her home in Seven Springs."
Details around her disappearance have not been released, and it is not clear who Yesenia is with.
Yesenia, who is Hispanic, weighs about 150 pounds, according to the AMBER Alert. She is about 4-feet, 11-inchese tall and has brown hair and eyes.
Anyone with additional information or if they see Yesenia is asked to call the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office at 252-559-6118.
What is an Amber Alert?
AMBER Alert is a nationwide notification system used to alert the public of missing children under the age of 18. As of last year, 1,200 children were found because of the AMBER Alert system and 180 children were rescued as a result of the emergency alerts, according to AMBER Alert.
In order for an alert to be issued, an abduction must have occurred, the child must be at risk of serious injury or death, and there has to be descriptive information about the child, the suspect or the suspect's vehicle.
"Every child featured in an AMBER Alert has been reported missing to law enforcement. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of a missing child," Alan S. Nanavaty, Executive Director of Special Programs for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, previously told Newsweek.
Nanavaty previously said on average, there are fewer than 200 AMBER Alerts issued each year. The alerts are broadcast through radio, TV, road signs, cell phones, and other data-enabled devices. The AMBER Alert system is being used in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Indian country, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children also uses posters and social media distribution to amplify AMBER Alerts to the public, Nanavaty said.
Newsweek created a map using 2022 data showing which states saw the most Amber alerts in 2022. According to the data, there were 31 Amber Alerts in Texas in 2022.
Active Amber Alerts
There is one other active AMBER Alert for a boy in Tennessee.
Sebastian Rogers, 15, has been missing since February 26. He was last seen at his mother and stepfather's home in Sumner County, Tennessee.
He is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs around 120 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes, and wears glasses. He was last seen wearing black sweatpants and a black sweatshirt.
Anyone with information about Rogers is being asked to call the Sumner County Emergency Communications Center at 615-451-3838 or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
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