For an AMBER Alert to be issued, what is one criterion related to the abductor?

The issuance of an AMBER Alert is guided by specific criteria aimed at ensuring a rapid response to a potentially dangerous situation involving a missing child. In the context of the abductor, one crucial criterion is that the abduction must not be by a parent unless there is a life-threatening risk involved. This reflects the understanding that many parental abductions may not pose the same immediate danger as those involving strangers or non-family members.

When a child is abducted by a family member, it often falls into a different legal and procedural category, mainly due to the parent or family member's legal rights. However, if there is clear evidence that the child is in imminent danger due to the family member's actions, the alert could still be warranted. This distinction is significant because it allows law enforcement to focus resources on cases that present the highest risk to a child's safety while helping to streamline the criteria for issuing alerts.

In contrasting this with the other options, the specificity about family member abductions highlights the importance of assessing the immediate threat level to the child, which is not a factor considered in the other options. The requirement that an abductor must be known to law enforcement, be armed and dangerous, or solely be a family member does not capture