Amber Alerts prove again that they save lives

It's good to know when a system works. It's even better when that system saves a child's life.

The Amber Alert does just that. And it did it again last week.

We first learned on July 23 that an 8-year-old girl had been abducted from her Fernley home by a convicted sex offender.

Through a series of media alerts and circulating fliers with the girl's name and photo, along with that of her abductor, the two were discovered Saturday - little more that a week later - at a low-income shelter in Mexico.

We cannot begin to imagine the horror her mother must have suffered during those long seven days.

But we do know the helplessness members of the media often feel when reporting these devastating crimes. And, likewise, the helplessness you must feel as you read about them.

But the Amber Alert system - first created in 1996 as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnaped and brutally murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas - allows everybody to be a part of the solution.

Statistics show that an abducted child's greatest enemy is time.

Amber Alerts allow us to get the information out quickly and efficiently. And it helps you be on the lookout.

Not only did it work this time, it's worked before.

In Nevada, of the 26 Amber Alerts that have been issued, 24 have resulted in the recovery of the missing child.

We are relieved that the 8-year-old is now back home in Fernley. We're glad her abductor is in custody.

And we are forever grateful to the shelter workers in Ensenada, Mexico, who took the time to read the fliers, then call the police when they suspected the two were there.

That's how it's supposed to work.