The Oklahoma House of Representatives approved House Bill 2227 or the "Jaray Wilson Runaway Child Alert System Act" with a unanimous vote this week.
OKLAHOMA CITY -
Lawmakers consider
a new alert system for missing children following 16-year-old Jaray Wilson's
disappearance.
The Oklahoma House
of Representatives approved House Bill 2227 or the "Jaray Wilson Runaway Child
Alert System Act" with a unanimous vote this week.
The bill is named
after Wilson because her case highlighted a potential problem with the system. Investigators
suspected Jaray Wilson may have been sold into human trafficking, but an amber
alert was never issued.
11/12/2012
Related Story: Family Of Missing Weatherford Teen Starts Petition For ‘Jaray
Alert'
Wilson's parents
say her case fell through the cracks because Wilson had run away before. The
family called on lawmakers to create a "Jaray Alert"; a system that would not
discriminate on age or the child's history.
Rep. Joe Dorman
authored the bill that would allow parents to report runaway children to the
Department of Public Safety. DPS would then send out a text alert with the
child's picture.
"There is no alert
system for parents to call in a runaway and that time is so critical in those
first few hours," said Dorman.
The Jaray Wilson
Act will also allow law enforcement agencies to detain a runaway or missing
child until parents arrive. Jara Wilson, Jaray's mother can only wonder if such
an alert could have changed the outcome in Jaray's case.
The measure is now
on the way to the state senate.