Georgia using child tracking system similary to California's

ATLANTA - Though it hasn't been used yet, Georgia has its own version of Amber Alert, the public alert system that saved two abducted California teens last week.

Established January first, Levi's Call sends out an emergency bulletin over radio and television. It describes the child and the suspect, the vehicle they may be riding in, where the abduction happened and when the child disappeared.

Levi's Call is one of eleven statewide child abduction warning programs in the United States. Many are named after Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old Texas girl who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996.

In Georgia, the program is named in memory of Levi Frady, an eleven-year-old boy who was found dead in 1997 after disappearing when he left a friend's home in Forsyth County.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Vicki Metz said so far, Georgia has not had to use the system to locate any children.

Metz said, ``We've been blessed that we have not had a case where we have had to activate the alert. That's a good thing. When the time comes, we will be able to operate in a timely fashion.''

Metz said the GBI has reached a verbal agreement with the state Department of Transportation to incorporate highway signs into the Levi's Call system. She said a program will be worked out in the next couple of weeks.