JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The parents of Hailey Owens testified before Missouri lawmakers on Monday, pleading for speedier Amber Alerts following their daughter’s abduction and murder in February of 2014.
House Bill 635 would reform the use of Amber Alert in Missouri, establishing “Hailey’s Law”
Lawmakers told FOX 4 it’s virtually unheard of to have a committee chair move to advance a bill the same night of a hearing like, but the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee voted unanimously to pass it through to the next committee.
Ten-year old Hailey was taken from her Springfield, Mo. neighborhood, and her body was later found in the home of 46-year-old Craig Michael Wood, who’s been charged with first-degree murder in her death.
Representative Eric Burlison (R-Greene County) sponsored the bill, and said it took over 2 hours for an Amber Alert to be issued after the call came in that Hailey was missing. He called that unacceptable, as did Hailey’s mom.
“I don’t want this to happen to anybody else. If another child goes missing I don’t want them to have to wait as long as I had to,” Hailey’s mom, Stacey Barfield, said.
“Hearing her voice on the phone compelled me to find a win-win,” Rep. Burlison said.
The bill calls for the Missouri uniform law enforcement system to be integrated with the Amber Alert system, and for Amber Alert board members to meet once a year. There was money available for the Missouri Highway Patrol to upgrade its systems, making information entry quicker, but it was never used.
