Peter Hermann today explored why out of four recent child abductions, only two triggered the statewide "Amber Alert." If you were watching the Olympics or other programming on Friday night, your TV was interrupted with an unavoidable minute-long alert that a girl had been abducted from Cecil County. Another was issued the next day in relation with an abduction of a Prince George's County girl.  But there were two other abductions during that time span, which did not trigger an Ambert Alert. The apparent reason is the involvement of a vehicle, and an available description of that vehicle. Since part of the Amber Alert is to have the description put up on highway signs, the lack of a vehicle apparently is a make-or-break element for broadcasting a description, even though the Amber Alert is so much more than a highway alert system.