An Indiana congressman is leading a national push to strengthen alerts for missing children, and named the legislation after Hailey Buzbee.
Congressman Rudy Yakym introduced the HAILEY Act on Wednesday.
The High-risk Alert Improvement for Locating Endangered Youth (HAILEY) Act would push law enforcement to issue AMBER Alerts for children believed to be high-risk missing persons, even if an abduction cannot be immediately confirmed.
Right now, AMBER Alerts can only be issued when police can confirm an abduction and that a child is in immediate danger.
That tragically wasn’t the case in Hailey’s disappearance.
Buzbee was allegedly lured away from her home in January this year by an Ohio man who met her through online gaming.
Her remains were found in February, but the man—arrested in her disappearance—has not been officially charged with murder.
"As a father of three kids, I cannot imagine the pain this family has endured. Hailey Buzbee deserved better, and so do the countless other children who fall through the cracks of an alert system that wasn't built for the threats they face today,” Rep. Yakym said. "This family is turning unimaginable tragedy into action to make sure no other child suffers the same fate, and I am honored to fight alongside them in Congress to make it happen.”
Hailey’s dad, Beau Buzbee, wrote the following on social media, reacting to the proposed law:
“The HAILEY Act seeks to modernize our response to high-risk missing children and ensure cries for help are amplified, but neglected or silenced.