Representative Shelia Stubbs Celebrates Passage of Age Extension on Missing Child Alert

Madison, WI –Yesterday, the Wisconsin State Assembly voted to concur in Senate Bill 466—relating to: age of issuance for a Missing Child Alert. Representative Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) released the following statement:

“Yesterday, the Wisconsin State Assembly voted to pass my bill, Assembly Bill 477/Senate Bill 466—relating to: age of issuance for a Missing Child Alert, which would increase the age for which a child is automatically eligible for a Missing Child Alert up to age 12, a measure that has already passed the Senate floor.

I want to thank my coauthors, Senator Jesse James, Senator LaTonya Johnson, Representative John Spiros, and Representative Jessie Rodriguez for their hard work on this bipartisan legislation.

Last session, I was able to work with my colleagues to introduce and pass 2023 Wisconsin Act 272, which created the Missing Child Alert. My heart and prayers continue to be with the families and loved one of Prince McCree and Lily Peters, whose heartbreaking cases inspired this legislation.

On October 25, 2023, 5-year-old Prince McCree went missing and was murdered in Milwaukee. One year earlier, on April 24, 2022, 11-year-old Lily Peters went missing and was murdered in Chippewa Falls. In both of these tragic cases, there was not sufficient information to issue an AMBER Alert. After these tragedies, it became clear that we needed an additional mechanism for finding our missing children and bringing them home safely.

The Missing Child Alert closed gaps in our existing procedures for locating missing children by creating a localized alert for children who do not qualify for an AMBER Alert but still may have difficulty returning home due to their age or a physical or mental disability or condition.

From August 2024, when the first Missing Child Alert was issued, to August 2025, the Wisconsin Department of Justice issued a total of 17 Missing Child Alerts for 14 children. During the same time period, 4 AMBER Alerts were issued for 5 children.

We know that this alert is working to help locate children immediately and protect them from harm. Yesterday, we passed one additional improvement that will save even more kids in our communities.

Under current law, a Missing Child Alert can be issued for a child whose location is unknown and who does not otherwise qualify for an alert if that child is either under the age of 10 or is under the age of 18 and is incapable of returning home on their own due to a physical or mental disability or condition.

Assembly Bill 477 would increase the age that a child is automatically eligible for a Missing Child Alert up to age 12. Young adolescents are still vulnerable to many of the factors that could cause a younger child to go missing, and they too deserve to be promptly searched for.

When a child goes missing, every second counts, and every family deserves to know that their missing child will be searched for as immediately and thoroughly as possible.

The Missing Child Alert is a critical tool for informing the public and searching for our state’s missing. Expanding the age of automatic eligibility up to age 12 gives these children the best possible chance of returning home safely to their families.

In the words of John Walsh, the father of Adam Walsh, who was tragically abducted and murdered in 1981, ‘One missing child is one too many.’

We have the opportunity and the obligation to stand with families across our state and prioritize the safe return of missing children. I am grateful for my legislative colleagues’ strong support of this legislation and look forward to seeing it reach Governor Tony Evers’ desk this session.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.