Missing Mississippi Children Found After Amber Alert, Suspect in Custody

Three-year-old Zaikeith Horn and one-year-old Zyairah Hampton, of Greenville, are believed to be with Nickolas Hampton of Greenville, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. (Mississippi Bureau of Investigation)

The children at the center of an AMBERT Alert on Friday in Mississippi were found safe, according to officials.

The state’s Bureau of Investigation issued the alert for 3-year-old Zaikeith Horn and 1-year-old Zyairah Hampton of Greenville, Mississippi.

The two children were found and unharmed, officials told local news outlets.

The suspect accused of taking them, Nikolas Hampton, was taken into police custody.

If anyone has information regarding the case, they should contact the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation at 855- 642-5378.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), an AMBER Alert can be issued in only certain circumstances.

It can be issued if “there is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred,” a “law enforcement agency believes that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death,” there’s “enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law enforcement to issue an AMBER Alert to assist in the recovery of the child, the child is 17 or younger, or ”the child’s name and other critical data elements, including the Child Abduction flag, have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.”

The “AMBER” in AMBER Alert stands for “America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response” and was created after a 9-year-old Texas girl, Amber Hagerman, was kidnapped while she was on her bicycle in 1996 before she was killed, according to the website. “Other states and communities soon set up their own AMBER plans as the idea was adopted across the nation.”

Other details about the case were not provided.