Just wondering if the change in the Iowa Amber Alert criteria was due to the overlooking of the 3 tips on the boxy white SUV in the EC & LC investigation?
http://www.kwwl.com/story/22985419/...-updated-evansdale-family-pleased-with-change
AMBER Alert criteria updated, Evansdale family pleased with change
Posted: Aug 01, 2013 12:31 AM EDT
Updated: Aug 01, 2013 12:37 PM EDT
<sniped & BBM for focus>
BLACK HAWK COUNTY (KWWL) -
Three little letters -- the word "and" -- could have made all the difference to Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins, the Evansdale girls that were kidnapped just over a year ago.
When they went missing, an AMBER Alert was never issued. Officers had no suspect or description of the vehicle.
Previously, Criteria Four of the code required "descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect's vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast will help."
Now, the "and" has been stricken from the code.
The new code also encourages law enforcement to interpret the code more broadly than before, erring on the side of caution.
Trelka has been advocating for change in the code for almost a year. He even attended an AMBER Alert conference with Drew Collins, Elizabeth's father.
Still, Trelka said the timing of this decision is amazing.
"To have the state come out with the changes in criteria, today on Elizabeth's birthday, just sends shivers down my spine," he said. "I mean, wow."
He said a clearer policy allows officers to act more quickly to save missing children, so the change is a move in the right direction.
Because time is of the essence in child abduction cases,
"What's sad is when a child is abducted, their chance of being murdered in the first three hours is significant," he said.
For Elizabeth's mother, on what would have been her daughter's tenth birthday, this change was the answer to her prayers.
"When I woke up today and I was praying, 'Lord, let something happen big today, even if it's not huge, huge, just something that will…" she said. "Just to show that what we're doing is what we should be doing."