Audrey Scott II is my daughter, and she went missing in 2017. Audrey had a history of domestic violence, and being "missing" was out of her character, but local law enforcement told me that I could not report her missing because my daughter was an adult. I expressed that my 28-year-old daughter was also a mother who would never go without communicating with nor about her children. But, there is not any statute stating that the police are required to act "swiftly" in informing the public that anyone's adult child is a "critically missing" person. As statistics have proven, the first 48-hours is the most critical period in locating a missing, endangered person and returned to their loved ones safe and alive.
I want to change law enforcement's protocol and their use of discretion in acting in any missing person case, which has a documented history of domestic violence, by requesting the implementation of a Purple Alert system in the state of Wisconsin. The current parameters of reporting an endangered, missing adult person(s) confines law enforcement agencies' willingness to pursue the safety justice of domestic violence victims and their families. A Purple Alert system for missing or endangered victims of domestic violence would expedite the required wait time in filing a missing person(s) report and notifying the public of these emergencies.
Domestic violence is a widespread crime and affects all cities, towns, and villages. With more than 40 percent of those 2020 homicides related to domestic or family violence, the Purple Alert system will help lower the homicide rate linked to domestic violence. The Purple Alert has the potential to curve the long-term effects of domestic violence-related trauma, including the health and mental wellness of family and loved ones throughout our communities. As a thriving mother of an adult domestic violence victim, whose skeletal remains were my last memory of her, I pledged to prevent other parents and loved ones from enduring this lifelong pain. Please help me in my pursuit to urge our state's legislature to act in implementing the Purple Alert system into law by signing this petition.