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A Turquoise Alert is a public safety notification used in the United States to help locate missing and endangered people, with a particular focus on Indigenous community members.
It works in the same way as an Amber Alert or a Silver Alert.
The difference lies in who it is designed to protect.
This guide explains what a Turquoise Alert is, where the name comes from, which states use it, and how it differs from the other alerts you may already know.
It also looks at the real reason the system was created, and the open questions about how well it is working.
What A Turquoise Alert Means
A Turquoise Alert is a statewide notice that asks the public to help locate a missing person believed to be in danger.
The alert is delivered through the same federal infrastructure that powers Amber Alerts.
That includes broadcast warnings, phone notifications, and highway message boards.
The goal is simple.
Get a description of the missing person in front of as many people as possible, as fast as possible.
The alert was built to close a specific gap.
For a long time, many missing adults and many missing Indigenous people did not qualify for any existing public alert.
A Turquoise Alert fills part of that gap.
Why Is It Called A Turquoise Alert
The name was chosen on purpose.
Turquoise is a stone that holds deep cultural and spiritual meaning for many Indigenous nations.
Lawmakers and tribal leaders selected the color to tie the alert directly to the communities it was created to serve.
The naming choice was a way to signal respect, not just to label a program.
The Origin Story: Emily Pike And Emily’s Law
The clearest way to understand the Turquoise Alert is to understand the case that drove it.
Emily Pike was a 14-year-old member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona.
She went missing in early 2025 and was later found dead.
Her case became a national symbol of how often Indigenous disappearances go unnoticed and under-investigated.
Arizona lawmakers responded with House Bill 2281.
The bill created a new statewide alert system and was given the informal name “Emily’s Law” in her honor.
Governor Katie Hobbs signed the legislation in May 2025.
The system went into effect that summer.
The vote in the state legislature was unanimous, which is rare for any bill and shows how broadly the need was recognized.
It is worth noting one painful detail.
Supporters of the law argued that a faster, more coordinated alert might have changed the outcome in Emily Pike’s case.
That argument is exactly why the system exists.
The Crisis Behind The Alert
The Turquoise Alert did not appear out of nowhere.
It is a response to a long-running emergency often described as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis, or MMIP.
The scale is hard to capture because the data itself is incomplete.
There is still no single national database that tracks missing and murdered Indigenous people accurately.
Information is scattered across thousands of federal, state, and tribal agencies.
Even so, the available figures are stark.
According to FBI data, more than 10,600 Indigenous people were reported missing in the United States in 2023.
Roughly 3,300 of them were adults aged 18 or older.
Indigenous people go missing at a higher rate than any other group relative to their share of the population.
Arizona, home to 22 federally recognized tribal nations, was identified as having one of the highest counts of unresolved missing Indigenous persons cases in the country.
Before the Turquoise Alert, an adult who went missing in Arizona often triggered no public alert at all.
There was simply no tool built for that situation.
Which States Have A Turquoise Alert
Arizona was the state that brought the Turquoise Alert into the national conversation.
It is not the only one.
Several states have created similar systems for missing Indigenous or endangered people.
These include Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Washington.
The systems share a goal, but the rules are not identical.
The differences matter, and they are a common source of public confusion.
New Mexico ties eligibility to tribal enrollment.
An alert can be issued for a person who is enrolled in, or eligible for enrollment in, a federally or state-recognized tribe.
The law was signed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2025.
California, North Dakota, and Washington took a different path.
Their laws do not include enrollment language and instead rely on self-identification.
Colorado wrote its own detailed definition of who counts as Indigenous for the alert.
Arizona stands apart importantly.
Its version is not limited to Indigenous people at all.
After legislative amendments, the Arizona alert can be issued for almost any missing person under 65 who is believed to be in danger.
That expansion is the single most misunderstood fact about the program, and it deserves its own section.
How A Turquoise Alert Is Sent Out
A Turquoise Alert uses multiple channels simultaneously.
The point is saturation.
In Arizona, the alert is pushed through the federally authorized Emergency Alert System, which interrupts radio and television broadcasts.
It also uses Wireless Emergency Alerts, which is the system that makes a phone buzz with an official warning.
Beyond phones and broadcasts, the state uses Department of Transportation message boards on highways.
It posts to official social media accounts and to the public safety website.
Law enforcement officers also receive an all-points bulletin so that patrol units are watching for the person.
In some states, the rollout of phone-based alerts came later than the broadcast and web channels.
The capability is expanding over time rather than arriving all at once.
Turquoise Alert VS Amber, Silver, And Blue Alerts
The United States now runs several color-coded alerts.
Each one covers a different situation.
The table below shows how they compare.
| Alert | Who It Is For |
|---|---|
| Amber Alert | Children who have been abducted |
| Silver Alert | People over 65, or those with a cognitive or developmental condition, who go missing |
| Blue Alert | Suspects believed to have killed or seriously injured a law enforcement officer |
| Turquoise Alert | Missing and endangered people, with a focus on Indigenous community members and, in Arizona, anyone under 65 in danger |
The Turquoise Alert was designed to fit between the Amber Alert and the Silver Alert.
It covers the people who fall through the gap between missing-child cases and missing-senior cases.
One rule is consistent across states.
A Turquoise Alert is not meant for routine runaway cases.
It is reserved for situations where a person is believed to be in genuine danger.
What To Do If You Receive A Turquoise Alert
The alert only works if the public acts on it.
There are a few simple things you can do.
Read the full description before you dismiss the notification.
Note the person’s appearance, any vehicle details, and the area where they were last seen.
Stay alert in your immediate surroundings rather than going out to search.
Most successful recoveries come from ordinary people noticing something in their normal day.
If you see the person or the vehicle, call 911 or the number listed in the alert.
Do not approach anyone yourself.
Report what you saw and let trained responders act.
Share the official alert if you can.
A wider audience increases the odds of a match.
Does The Turquoise Alert Actually Work?
This is where honest analysis matters more than cheerleading.
The first Turquoise Alert in Arizona offers a real example.
It was issued in July 2025 for a 6-year-old child who had been taken across state lines.
Within hours of the alert going out, the public safety dispatch center logged dozens of calls.
With that help, the child was located safely the same night.
By that measure, the system did exactly what it was built to do.
There is a more complicated side to the story.
In the months after launch, the alert was used very rarely, even as hundreds of people were reported missing in the state during the same period.
Public safety officials have said the low number is by design because the alert is meant for a narrow set of high-risk cases rather than every missing-person report.
There is also the question of identity.
The first alert was issued for a child who was not Indigenous.
That outcome surprised some observers and reopened the debate about whether broadening the criteria pulled the program away from its original purpose.
Both things can be true at once.
The Turquoise Alert can be a genuine life-saving tool, yet it may still fall short of the specific promise made to Indigenous families.
A useful explainer should hold both ideas together rather than pick the more comfortable one.
Key Takeaways
- A Turquoise Alert is a public alert for missing and endangered people, created with Indigenous communities in mind.
- The name honors a stone of deep cultural value to Indigenous nations.
- It began in Arizona as Emily’s Law, named for Emily Pike, and now exists in several states with different rules.
- It uses the same emergency channels as an Amber Alert, including broadcasts, phone warnings, and highway signs.
- It is one tool among several, and its real-world impact is still being measured.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The Difference Between A Turquoise Alert And An Amber Alert?
An Amber Alert is issued specifically for abducted children. A Turquoise Alert is broader and is aimed at missing and endangered people, with a focus on Indigenous community members.
Is The Turquoise Alert Only For Indigenous People?
It depends on the state. Several states tie the alert to tribal identity. Arizona expanded its version to cover almost any missing person under 65 who is believed to be in danger.
Which States Have A Turquoise Alert?
Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Washington have created Turquoise Alert systems or similar notifications. More states may follow.
Why Is It Called Turquoise?
Turquoise is a gemstone with strong cultural and spiritual meaning for many Indigenous nations. The name was chosen to reflect the communities the alert is meant to serve.
What Should I Do When I Get A Turquoise Alert?
Read the description, stay aware of your surroundings, and call 911 if you see the person or vehicle. Do not approach anyone yourself.
Sources and further reading: Arizona Department of Public Safety Turquoise Alert page; Arizona House Bill 2281 (“Emily’s Law”); Arizona Mirror; Source New Mexico and New Mexico In Depth; KJZZ and KUNC public radio reporting; FBI National Crime Information Center and NamUs missing persons data.
This article is an informational explainer. It is not legal advice and not an official source for any active alert. For live alerts and official guidance, always refer to your state public safety agency.
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