Apr. 10, 2026

HARRISBURG – Continuing the fight to protect Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens, Rep. Robert Leadbeter (R-Columbia) announced his legislation to establish the Purple Alert System in Pennsylvania passed unanimously out of the House Judiciary Committee Thursday.

Similar to Amber Alert for abducted children, Silver Alert for missing older adults and Green Alert for missing at-risk veterans, the Purple Alert system would rapidly notify the public and law enforcement when an individual with certain cognitive, intellectual or developmental disabilities goes missing.

House Bill 2102, known as Aiden’s Law, was named after Aiden Ha – a 6-year-old nonverbal autistic Columbia County child who was found dead in the Susquehanna River in October of last year. La’Niyah Clark, a 15-year-old girl who suffered from a hearing impairment, was discovered deceased in February in Wilkes-Barre one month after being labeled as missing.

“As a father, my heart aches for Aiden’s and La’Niyah’s families,” said Leadbeter. “Losing a child, especially at a young age, is a parent’s worst nightmare. As a brother of a police officer, I have seen firsthand the hard work and dedication our law enforcement partners display to protect and save lives. Giving them this extra resource will uphold our mission to prevent tragedies like these from happening again.”

House Bill 2102 now heads to the full House for consideration. If the measure passes the House and Senate and is enacted into law, Pennsylvania would join Florida, Maryland, Kansas, Mississippi, Connecticut and West Virginia as states who have this program.


 
 Leadbeter was joined by local advocate Sara Nye to speak on this legislation.


Representative Robert Leadbeter
109th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Nate Temple
717-260-6396
ntemple@pahousegop.com
 
 
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