Yellow Notices

A Yellow Notice is a global police alert to help locate missing persons.

What is a Yellow Notice?

A Yellow Notice is a global police alert for a missing person. It is published for victims of parental abductions, criminal abductions (kidnappings) or unexplained disappearances.

The Yellow Notice can also be used to help identify a person who is unable to identify himself or herself.

This is a valuable law enforcement tool that can increase the chances of a missing person being located, particularly if there is a possibility that the person might travel, or be taken, abroad.

In 2021, INTERPOL issued 2,622 Yellow Notices.

How is a Yellow Notice published?

Police in one of our member countries request a Yellow Notice via their National Central Bureau and provide information on the case. The Notice is then published by the General Secretariat in our database, which alerts police in all our member countries.

Why is the Yellow Notice important?

  • It gives high, international visibility to cases
  • Abducted/missing persons are flagged to border officials, making travel difficult
  • Countries can request and share critical information linked to the investigation.

Can I look up a Yellow Notice?

While some of our Yellow Notices are restricted to law enforcement use only, many are available publicly. Search Yellow Notices.

How do I report someone as missing?

If you want to report someone as missing, please contact your local police authority who will get in touch with their INTERPOL National Central Bureau, if appropriate.

I have some information about a Yellow Notice

If you have any information that could help locate or identify the people listed as missing on this website, please contact your local police authority and the INTERPOL General Secretariat as soon as possible with details.

See also