PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL -- The founders of the Amber Alert missing child program say companies are making money on their name and they're not happy about it.
Bruce Seybert is a friend of the little girl's family whom the system is named after. He is also the creator of the nationwide alert system and says he is concerned that dozens of on-line companies are charging to enroll children for a profit.
He is also concerned that the databases of these companies are not directly linked to police.
"These companies have nothing to do with Amber Alert," Seybert said. "They are bottom feeders. Families should stay away from them."
One of the companies Seybert is skeptical of is the Boca Raton based company, AmberAlertRegistry.org. The company has kiosks at local malls and charges parents twenty dollars a year to register a child.
Program founder Zephora Haddon said the company was created to be a centralized database where parents could store the most updated information on their children and have quick access to it should a crisis occur.
"We are here to help families," Haddon said. "We make money, yes, but we also give back through various charitable organizations."
The original Amber Alert program endorses agencies by putting its official symbol on it, a pink bow with a picture of Amber Hadderman- the missing child the program is named after.
The Amber Alert creators are taking the next six months to analyze all of the sites that offer to register children.
