New Missing Child Alert launches in Wisconsin, honoring Prince McCree and Lily Peters
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – There is now a new way to alert the public about missing children in Wisconsin.
Legislators hope it will help with cases that don't qualify for Amber Alerts.
The new Missing Child Alert is now active across the state.
It was created with bi-partisan passage of the PRINCE Act, named after Prince McCree: A Milwaukee 5-year-old who went missing last fall and was later found dead.
"My son always wanted to be a hero. He wanted to be Spiderman," said Prince's father, Darron McCree. "Now, his name is saving lives, so he's going to eternally save lives."
McCree's parents joined state leaders and Milwaukee police Thursday to celebrate the launch of the new Missing Child Alert, inspired by him and 10-year-old Lily Peters, who went missing two years ago in Chippewa Falls.
"Having a child go missing is any parent's nightmare," said Attorney General Josh Kaul. "This alert system is one that will help us locate more missing kids in the state of Wisconsin."
The alert can be issued for missing children under 10 years old who don't meet Amber Alert criteria, and children under 18 with disabilities that prevent them from returning home.
It will be sent to phones within five miles of where the child was last seen and broadcasted on Wisconsin DOT highway boards and Wisconsin Lottery terminals.
The goal is to encourage the community to start looking immediately.
"We encourage members of the public to take them incredibly seriously, this is a missing person we're talking about," Kaul said.
Amber Alerts have very narrow criteria. The Missing Child Alert fills the gap, giving families across the state the same resource.
"Nobody wants to have a missing child and then find out that their children aren't eligible for an alert system that may possibly bring them home, and this corrects that," said State Senator LaTonya Johnson.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice expects this will increase the number of alerts in Wisconsin.
Kaul plans to ask legislature for more support for the small team that handles statewide alerts.
"We don't want to have a circumstance where we have more requests for alerts coming in than our staff is able to handle," Kaul said. "We want to get those out as quickly as possible."
Kaul said the new alert was used for the first time this week, and that child was found safely.