Hobbs says Arizona's Turquoise Alert system works as planned

An Arizona alert system initially pitched as a way to find missing Native Americans was successfully used for another purpose. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs says it’s working.

State lawmakers introduced a bill this year to create the Turquoise Alert as a way to notify the public about missing Native Americans in the style of an AMBER Alert. But the legislation was heavily modified before Hobbs signed it. It was used for the first time this month to find a missing Hawaiian girl who is not, in fact, Native American.

Hobbs said Tuesday that the purpose of the law is to fill in the gaps, and that’s just what this alert did.

“If there was not a Turquoise Alert in place, an alert would not have been issued in this situation, it was a custodial interference. And so the Turquoise Alert absolutely helps fill the gaps in the missing and murdered Indigenous persons crisis, but this is also, it’s not just limited to Native Americans,” Hobbs said.

The final version of the legislation, which went into effect on July 1, provides for law enforcement to request a Turquoise Alert be issued for any missing person under 65 years old who is believed to be endangered.

For older adults, there is a separate alert called Silver Alert.