A CLEAR Alert on a highway sign means law enforcement is searching for a missing adult between 18 and 64 years old who is believed to be in immediate danger. CLEAR stands for Coordinated Law Enforcement Adult Rescue, and the alerts appear on electronic highway signs in Texas to enlist the public’s help in locating someone who has been abducted, kidnapped, or gone missing under dangerous circumstances. The sign typically displays a vehicle description, license plate number, or other identifying details to watch for.
Who CLEAR Alerts Are Designed to Find
Texas created the CLEAR Alert program through 2019 legislation to fill a gap in the state’s emergency alert system. Before it existed, AMBER Alerts covered missing children 17 and younger, and Silver Alerts covered missing seniors with documented cognitive conditions like Alzheimer’s or dementia. Adults between 18 and 64 who went missing under threatening circumstances had no dedicated broadcast system to rapidly spread the word.
The CLEAR Alert closes that gap. It applies specifically to adults who are missing, kidnapped, or abducted and believed to be in immediate danger. Law enforcement uses it to push out descriptions of the missing person, any suspected vehicle involved, and information about potential suspects. The goal is to generate tips from the public quickly, while the situation is still unfolding.
How It Differs From Other Highway Alerts
Texas uses several alert systems on its highway signs, each targeting a different situation:
- AMBER Alert: Activated for children 17 or younger whose disappearance law enforcement has determined to be unwilling and poses a credible threat to the child’s life.
- Silver Alert: Used for missing elderly adults with documented mental conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.
- Blue Alert: Issued when a violent criminal has killed or seriously wounded a law enforcement officer, with the goal of speeding up the suspect’s apprehension.
- CLEAR Alert: Covers missing adults aged 18 to 64 who face immediate danger but don’t qualify for an AMBER or Silver Alert.
If you see a CLEAR Alert, the person in question is an adult, and the situation is considered urgent enough that law enforcement believes public awareness could make a difference in getting them found safely.
Where the Name Comes From
Beyond the acronym, the name honors specific victims of violence whose cases helped push the legislation forward: Cayley Mandadi, D’Lisa Kelley, Erin Castro, Ashanti Billie, and others. Their stories highlighted how adults who went missing under violent or suspicious circumstances lacked the same rapid-notification infrastructure that existed for children and seniors. The “R” in CLEAR stands for “the Rest,” acknowledging that these four named individuals represent a larger group of victims.
How a CLEAR Alert Gets Activated
CLEAR Alerts don’t go up on highway signs automatically. The local law enforcement agency handling the missing person case must first determine that the situation meets the state’s alert criteria. They then enter the case into the Texas and National Crime Information Center databases and submit a formal request to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), including photographs of the missing person, suspect descriptions, and vehicle information.
DPS staff review the request, sometimes contacting the local agency to clarify how the criteria were met. Once approved, the alert goes out across the state network, which includes those electronic highway signs, as well as other broadcast channels. The process is designed to move fast, but it requires law enforcement to confirm the person is genuinely in danger before the system activates.
What to Do When You See One
When a CLEAR Alert appears on a highway sign, it will usually show a vehicle make, model, color, or license plate number. Pay attention to the vehicles around you and note any that match the description. If you spot a match, call 911 rather than approaching the vehicle yourself. Even partial information, like seeing a vehicle matching the description heading in a particular direction, can help narrow down a search area.
You may also receive a CLEAR Alert on your phone or see it on local television, depending on how broadly the alert is distributed. The highway signs are just one piece of a larger notification push.
Similar Programs in Other States
Texas isn’t the only state with a system for missing adults who fall outside AMBER and Silver Alert criteria. Virginia has a Critically Missing Adult Alert. New York and New Hampshire use Missing Vulnerable Adult Alerts. New Jersey and Vermont have Missing Vulnerable Person Alert systems. Ohio has an Endangered Missing Adult Alert for people 65 and older but handles other adult cases individually. At the federal level, the Ashanti Alert Network (named after Ashanti Billie, one of the same victims honored by the CLEAR Alert) encourages states to build similar programs so that missing adults anywhere in the country have a better chance of being found quickly.