MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A new bill looking to expand an important missing person alert in Tennessee moved out of committee and on to discussion by the full state Senate.
The proposal comes with full support from the family of a high profile missing persons case.
According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, there were 341 missing persons in Tennessee in 2019. Though 18- to 20-year-olds usually make up a small percentage of those cases, a Tennessee lawmaker wants to increase the resources for that age range.
When Holly Bobo disappeared in 2011 she was too old for an Amber Alert and for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Endangered Child Alert.
Bobo was 20 years old when she was last seen alive. For years the search for the missing nursing student turned up empty. Then partial remains were found in the woods in 2014.
Now, more than five years later Tennessee lawmakers are working with Bobo’s mother to propose a new law that may prevent another tragedy like Bobo’s.
“The TBI has an effective Endangered Child Alert Act in place what this bill does will simply raise the age that is eligible for that alert from 17 to 20," said Senator Dolores Gresham.
The age boost would have allowed the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to push out vital information to its media partners and on social media.
Right now, the TBI Endangered Child Alert stops at 17.
“The national crime information center claims that 73% of missing persons are 20 years of age or under,” said Gresham. “Holly Bobo was 20 years old when she was taken from her Decatur County home and murdered.”
The bill is the work of Representative Kirk Haston who represents Decatur, Henderson, Chester and Perry counties.
“It was definitely a case that was near and dear to a lot of people’s hearts,” said Representative Kirk Haston of District 72.
The bill would also make TBI’s endangered child alert process part of Tennessee Code.
Right now, it only features a senior citizen alert program and procedures for a missing children registry but does not mention endangered alerts.
This article initially appeared on WMCActionNews5.com.