South Dakota Missing Children

In South Dakota a missing child is reported to the city police, the county sheriff or, on the reservations, the tribal police or the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation in the Attorney General's office coordinates the case, issues AMBER Alerts and keeps the state's missing persons clearinghouse. In South Dakota, national publicity comes from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which posts the case with the family's or the agency's permission once it is in the FBI's database. There is no waiting period.

Native people make up a large share of South Dakota's missing persons list, and the state created an Office of Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons in the Attorney General's office to work on those cases with the nine tribes.

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

• NCMEC missing child searchNational search of missing child posters
• South Dakota Division of Criminal InvestigationCriminal Investigation Division
• NCMEC map of long term missing and unidentified childrenNational map; zoom in to South Dakota
• South Dakota Amber Alert
• What To Do If Your Child Is MissingInformation for Parents
• South Dakota Internet Crimes Against ChildrenInternet Safety
• Family AbductionsAbduction Prevention
• Guidelines for Parents on Internet SafetyInternet Safety Guidelines

South Dakota county sheriffs

The Division of Criminal Investigation activates an AMBER Alert at the request of the investigating agency when a child under 18 has been abducted, is believed to be in danger of serious harm or death, and there is enough information about the child, the abductor or a vehicle to help the public. The alert reaches radio and television through the Emergency Alert System, phones through the wireless emergency alert system, and the Department of Transportation highway signs on Interstates 29 and 90, and it is shared with the six neighboring states. In South Dakota, alerts usually cover the whole state because the population is spread thin.

• South Dakota Attorney GeneralThe Division of Criminal Investigation, AMBER Alert activations and the missing persons clearinghouse

The South Dakota missing persons clearinghouse in the Division of Criminal Investigation keeps the statewide file of missing children and adults, posts a public listing with photos, coordinates with the National Center and NamUs, and works with the tribal police and the FBI on reservation cases. The city police, the county sheriff or the tribal police, whichever covers the place the child was last seen, is the first stop. Ask for the case number and for confirmation that the child is in the National Crime Information Center, and then contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Sioux Falls and Rapid City police have their own detectives for missing children.

• South Dakota Police DepartmentsCity police departments that take missing child reports
• South Dakota County Sheriff DirectorySheriff offices for the 66 counties
• South Dakota Most WantedFugitives and outstanding warrants

South Dakota's Endangered Missing Advisory covers children and adults whose cases do not meet the AMBER standard, including seniors with cognitive impairment, and the state's Blue Alert covers suspects who have injured or killed a law enforcement officer. In South Dakota, case records stay with the investigating agency, and on reservations they may sit with the tribe or the FBI. South Dakota's open records law makes basic case facts public while criminal investigative records can be withheld, and juvenile records are confidential. A case that stays open can be added to NamUs, the national missing and unidentified persons database, when the investigating agency enters it, and the public can search the entries the agency chooses to publish.

• NamUsNational database of missing and unidentified persons
• South Dakota Criminal RecordsCriminal history and court records in South Dakota

• 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