North Dakota has issued just three Amber Alerts since the program began in 2003 and none since 2006. State officials believe the program helps deter child abductions.

"The whole idea behind the Amber Alert process is to get that information out to the public using as many resources as possible - the Department of Transportation, the lottery, the media," said Highway Patrol Lt. Mike Gerhart, the state's Amber Alert coordinator.

An Associated Press review nationwide shows wide variations among states in what triggers an Amber Alert. The AP found a few states have no one to oversee their programs and some barely keep track of the alerts.

North Dakota officials issue an Amber Alert when a child age 17 or younger is abducted and believed to be in danger. Authorities get a description of the child and the suspect or suspect's vehicle.

Rick Robinson, a spokesman for the state Emergency Services Department, said the state's Amber Alert database is tested regularly. It includes more than 400 contacts, he said.

North Dakota's first Amber Alert was issued in March 2004, for a 14-year-old Rolette County girl found a day later in Jamestown. A man was convicted of molesting her and luring her over the Internet.

The second alert was issued in October 2005, for two 13-year-old Bottineau County girls. They were missing nearly three days before they were found at a Bismarck mall. One man pleaded guilty to gross sexual imposition in the case. Charges were dropped against a second suspect when authorities determined he was 15 instead of 21.

The third Amber Alert was issued for 3-year-old Reachelle Smith of Minot, in May 2006. She still has not been found.

Even without an Amber Alert, information on missing people goes out to law enforcement agencies and the media, Robinson said.

Gerhart believes the Amber Alert program, which is named for a 9-year-old girl kidnapped and killed in Texas, is a deterrent.

"Thankfully, we don't have to activate it that much," Gerhart said. "Perhaps our greatest partner in the whole process is the public."