Louisiana Missing Children

A missing child in Louisiana is reported to the city police or the parish sheriff, and from there the case moves to the Louisiana State Police, which runs the state's AMBER Alert plan and the Louisiana Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children, and to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which can post the case nationally with the family's or the police's permission. There is no waiting period. Louisiana law and federal law both require the report to be taken at once and entered into the FBI's National Crime Information Center.

Louisiana is unusual in having a second tier of child alert, the Level II Endangered or Missing Child Advisory, so a child whose case does not meet the strict AMBER standard can still be publicized statewide through the same channels.

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

• NCMEC missing child searchNational search of missing child posters
• Missing children from Louisiana, NCMECNCMEC case search for children missing from Louisiana
• Louisiana Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited ChildrenMissing Children Hotline
• Louisiana Amber Alert ProgramLouisiana Amber Alert Plan
• What To Do If Your Child Is MissingMissing Children Assistance
• Report a Sighting of a Missing ChildMissing Children Sightings
• Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited ChildrenState clearinghouse for missing children, AMBER Alerts and endangered child advisories.
• Child Identification Information for Parents and Guardians

The Louisiana State Police activates an AMBER Alert at the request of the investigating agency when a child under 18 has been abducted, the child is believed to be in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death, and there is enough information about the child, the abductor or a vehicle to make a broadcast useful. The alert goes to radio and television through the Emergency Alert System, to phones through the wireless emergency alert system, to Department of Transportation message boards on the interstates, and to the State Police social media accounts. Cases that fall short of the abduction standard get the Level II advisory instead, which reaches media and online audiences without the phone alert.

• Louisiana State PoliceAMBER Alert and Level II advisory activations, the state plan and the clearinghouse

The Louisiana Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children sits inside the State Police and keeps the statewide file of missing children, coordinates with the National Center on posters and age progressions, and helps local agencies with cases that cross parish or state lines. The first call goes to the local police or the parish sheriff. Ask for the case number, make sure the child has been entered into the National Crime Information Center, and then call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST. In New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Lafayette the city police departments have their own juvenile and missing persons units.

• Louisiana Police DepartmentsCity police departments that take missing child reports
• Louisiana Parish Sheriff DirectorySheriff offices for all 64 parishes
• Louisiana Most WantedFugitives and outstanding warrants

Louisiana also runs a Silver Alert for missing seniors and adults with cognitive impairment and a Blue Alert for suspects who have killed or seriously injured a peace officer, both through the State Police. Records of a missing child case stay with the investigating agency. Under the Louisiana Public Records Law, the initial report and basic facts are public, while the investigative file can be withheld until the case is resolved, and juvenile records carry extra protection. A Louisiana case that stays open for a long time can be entered by the investigating agency in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, NamUs, and the public can search the entries the agency approves for publication.

• NamUsNational database of missing and unidentified persons, searchable by the public
• Louisiana Criminal RecordsCriminal history and court records in Louisiana

• National Center for Missing & Exploited ChildrenMissing child posters, reports and the CyberTipline
• AMBER Alert, U.S. Department of JusticeHow AMBER Alerts work and who issues them
• NISMART, national studies of missing childrenDepartment of Justice research on missing children