Derek VanLuchene brings a unique perspective to the investigation and response to child abductions. In 1987, when Derek was 17 years old, his 8 year old brother Ryan was abducted and murdered by a repeat sex offender. Ryan was taken from the family’s backyard in a rural Montana community. Since that time, Derek has devoted himself to issues of sex offender management and child abduction response. Derek spent 18 years as a Montana Law Enforcement Officer working for both the Conrad Police Department and The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation. Currently, Derek manages Ryan United, a non-profit organization dedicated to his brother. Through Ryan United, Derek provides resources to crime victims, law enforcement, corrections officials specific to sex offender management, child abduction and community safety. As a Project Coordinator for AMBER Alert, Derek focuses on expanding the number of US DOJ Certified CART programs nationwide.

As founder of The Border Research Group, Mr. Walters provides assistance to tribal communities and nongovernmental organizations in the field of child protection, human trafficking and family violence. As the former Program Administrator for the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program (AATTAP), Mr. Walters was responsible for developing and delivering national training and technical assistance in investigative techniques, program development and policy issues related to child protection, exploitation, missing and abducted children and youth at high risk of victimization. Mr. Walters oversaw the implementation of the AMBER Alert Initiative for Indian Country, developing training and technical assistance on public safety issues to over 500 federally recognized tribes. He supervised efforts in support of the implementation of the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2018.

Robert Lowery recently served as the vice president of the Missing Children Division for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. He is responsible for all operational components for reports on missing children, including case management, child abduction rapid-response, long-term missing children, children missing from care, missing children with special needs, unidentified deceased children, homicides and violence against children, and biometrics. Bob has over 30 years of law enforcement experience having served as the Assistant Chief of Police for the Florissant, Missouri Police Department and Commander of the Greater St. Louis Major Case Squad, the oldest and largest multi-jurisdictional homicide task force in the United States. He was directly responsible for homicide and violent crime investigations in the entire St. Louis Metropolitan Region.