Florida Missing Children

Florida runs one of the most developed missing child systems in the country through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse, which posts a public search of missing children and adults with photos, coordinates AMBER Alerts and the Florida Missing Child Alert, and works with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, whose Florida office is in Lake Park. Florida's law requires police to take a missing child report immediately and to enter it into the national database within two hours.

Florida's Missing Child Alert covers a child whose case does not meet the AMBER criteria but who is believed to be in danger of death or serious injury, so it has its own eligibility rules and is not issued for every missing child.

Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.

• Florida Missing Person SearchOnline Search
• Florida Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• Florida Missing Children Clearinghouse
• Florida Amber PlanFlorida Amber Alert Plan
• Current Florida Amber Alerts
• Florida Department of Education Missing Children ResourcesEducation Database Matching
• Florida Center for Child WelfareMissing Children Guide
• What To Do If Your Child Is MissingMissing Children Assistance
• Safety Tips
• Missing Kids in FloridaFlorida Missing Kids
• Florida Department of Children and FamiliesMissing Child List
• Florida Missing Children Day Foundation

Florida's AMBER Alert is activated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at the request of the investigating agency when a child under 18 has been abducted, is in danger of serious harm or death, and there is enough information about the child, the suspect or a vehicle to broadcast. FDLE sends the alert to broadcasters through the Florida Association of Broadcasters, the wireless emergency alert system, Department of Transportation highway signs, the lottery network and social media, and coordinates with Georgia and Alabama when a vehicle may have crossed the line.

• FDLE AMBER Alert and Missing Child AlertFlorida's alert plans and the Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse, checked September 25, 2026
• National Center for Missing and Exploited ChildrenNational case posters, the CyberTipline and the 1-800-THE-LOST hotline, checked September 25, 2026
• AMBER Alert national programFederal AMBER Alert coordination, checked September 25, 2026

The Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse within FDLE maintains the statewide list of missing children and adults with a public search, coordinates with the National Center on child cases and with NamUs on long term cases, and runs the state's Child Abduction Response Teams that deploy in the first hours of an abduction. In Florida, the report goes to the local police or the county sheriff. Get the case number, ask whether the child is in the Florida Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center yet, and call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as the next step. Florida's 67 sheriffs and the big city police departments run missing persons units.

• Florida Police DepartmentsCity police departments that take missing child reports
• Florida County Sheriff DirectorySheriff offices for all 67 counties
• Florida Most WantedFugitives and outstanding warrants

Florida's Missing Child Alert covers a missing child under 18 who is in danger without evidence of abduction, broadcast by FDLE to media and online without the wireless phone alert. Silver Alerts cover missing seniors and adults with cognitive impairment, Purple Alerts, created in 2022, cover missing adults with mental or developmental disabilities, and Blue Alerts cover suspects who have harmed an officer. Case files stay with the investigating agency and can be withheld while the investigation is active under Chapter 119, while the clearinghouse listing is public and Florida's broad public records law opens closed case files.

• NamUsNational database of missing and unidentified persons, checked September 25, 2026
• Florida Criminal RecordsCriminal history and court records in Florida

These federal and national sources complement Florida's state-level records. They are the authoritative sources you should cross-check when Florida state records are incomplete or out-of-state activity matters.

NCMEC, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Congressionally authorized national clearinghouse for missing children. NCMEC operates the 24-hour hotline 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) and the CyberTipline for exploitation reports.

AMBER Alert, U.S. Department of Justice The federally coordinated AMBER Alert network. Each state operates its own plan under DOJ AMBER Alert Program guidance.

NISMART, National Incidence Study OJJDP's periodic survey of missing-child incidence in the United States, the authoritative federal statistical source.