Phoenix Police are asking the public for help finding 15-year-old Madison Shelde. The department has released an appeal for information about her.
The department's public appeal, posted to social media, cites a brand-new Arizona statute, A.R.S. § 8-901, as the legal basis for sharing Shelde's flyer online. According to Phoenix Police
, anyone who has seen the child or has information should call 602-262-6151 rather than leave a comment or send a direct message.
The updated law took effect just five days before the department's post, on September 12, 2026, after Governor Katie Hobbs signed the bipartisan measure — Senate Bill 1416 — into law back in June, according to the Missing in America Network. The revised statute requires law enforcement agencies to submit identifying information on missing children to the Arizona Crime Information Center and National Crime Information Center within two hours of a report, and to send photographs and details to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children within 24 hours, per the bill text hosted by the Arizona State Legislature.
What the New Law Requires of Police
Beyond the reporting timelines, A.R.S. § 8-901 now mandates that agencies post full physical descriptions, last known locations, clothing details, and photos on official social media channels within 24 hours, and provide specified information to appropriate media outlets — the same statute the legislature's own text lays out for the requirements now shaping how Phoenix Police is publicizing Shelde's case. The law also bars agencies from publicly labeling a missing child a runaway unless officials determine that characterization is necessary to protect the child's safety or further an active investigation, according to the statute's text posted by the Arizona State Legislature.
Lawmakers pushed the changes after legislative reports found that roughly 70% of missing children cases in Arizona's public databases previously lacked a photograph, per reporting from KTAR News. The statute also now requires training for employees with direct involvement in missing-child cases, including supervisors and communications dispatchers.
A Statewide Pattern of Youth Recovery Efforts
Nationally, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children assisted with 32,167 missing child cases in 2025, resolving 29,013 of them for a 90% recovery rate, the organization reported. NCMEC's data also includes runaway reports. The organization also discusses child sex trafficking involving runaway children.
Closer to home, a weeklong operation this past May called Operation Desert Dawn — led by the U.S. Marshals Service alongside Phoenix and Glendale police — concluded on Friday after safely locating 31 missing and endangered children across Arizona, as Hoodline reported at the time. Statewide, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System tracks open missing persons cases in Arizona.
The Phoenix Police Department's non-emergency number is 602-262-6151.
