As we reported recently on Eyewitness News, two students of the AMI School in Branch ran away, but were caught and brought back to the school.

To help inform residents in the event this happens again, the Acadia Parish Sheriff's office set up an alert system to notify locals of runaways.

It's a system that neighbors are welcoming with open arms, after several students from the AMI School in Branch ran away and into the surrounding areas.

The "child is missing" alert is a system that allows law enforcement all over the country to locate missing children, and now the system will be used in Acadia Parish as well.

If a child runs away from the AMI School in Branch, sheriff officials can record a message that can be sent out to those who are registered to receive it.

Sheriff Wayne Melancon says the notification system will help notify those in the area that a child has run away from the school, and can include other details such as what the child was wearing when last seen. 

"It generates 1000 calls in 60 seconds so everyone will be notified immediately when this will be going out" says Melancon.

If you want to sign up for the alert system, you can do so at the Acadia Parish Sheriff's web site at www.apso.org .

Alerts can be sent via phone call, text or email.

Katie Johnson