A statewide Ebony Alert is underway for 16-year-old Serenity Dalton, who was last seen near South Nash Street and Rosecrans Avenue in El Segundo on Sunday afternoon. Dalton is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, and she was last wearing a white dress and sandals. Anyone who spots her is urged to call 9-1-1 immediately.
The California Highway Patrol activated the alert on behalf of the El Segundo Police Department, according to a bulletin posted by CHP - Alerts
. The alert was activated Tuesday, two days after Dalton was last seen Sunday. No further details about her direction of travel have been released.
Where She Was Last Seen
The intersection where Dalton was last seen is in El Segundo.
How the Ebony Alert System Works
California created the Ebony Alert through Senate Bill 673, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law in October 2023, making California the first state in the nation with a dedicated emergency notification system for missing Black youth and young women ages 12 to 25, as reported by CalMatters. The bill was authored by former state Senator Steven Bradford to address long-standing disparities in how missing-person cases involving Black youth were handled. The system is designed to help locate missing Black youth and young women in qualifying cases.
A Response to a National Pattern
The alert system was built to close a gap that advocates say has long failed Black families. Missing Black children have historically been more likely to be misclassified by police as runaways rather than abducted or endangered, which disqualified them from AMBER Alert broadcasts that require confirmed abduction and imminent danger, according to Tech Brew. Federal data from the National Crime Information Center shows nearly 38% to 40% of all missing children reported nationwide are Black, even though Black Americans make up 12.4% of the U.S. population, the outlet notes.
Traffick911 reports that Black children account for 53% of juvenile prostitution arrests.
A System With a Track Record
The alerts rely on digital highway signage and local media broadcasts to help law enforcement spread the word quickly to the public.
For now, no additional details about Dalton's disappearance or possible whereabouts have been released, and anyone with information is asked to call 9-1-1.
