WASHINGTON D.C. (WVEC) — The federal Ashanti Alert took a huge step forward on Thursday.
According to Senator Mark Warner, the National Ashanti Alert Act has unanimously passed the U.S. Senate.
The bill is named after Ashanti Billie, who was abducted from JEB Little Creek last year, only to be found murdered in North Carolina.
Rep. Scott Taylor introduced a national version of the alert to the House of Representatives. In September, the bill unanimously passed the U.S. House.
Ashanti Billie was 19-years-old at the time of her abduction; too old for an Amber Alert and too young for a Silver Alert. But her parents thought an alert could have helped save their daughter's life.
Since then, the Brandy and Meltony Billie helped turn the "Critically Missing Adult Alert" into law in Virginia.
A federal version of the alert would expand this system across the U.S. Under the bill when a national Ashanti Alert is issued, the Department of Justice would work with the Amber Alert network to get the word out.
“Ashanti’s tragic death should not be in vain,” said Sen. Warner. “We must give law enforcement agencies and communities across the country the tools they need to locate missing adults and save more lives.”
An alert would be limited to areas where that person could most likely be.
Ashanti Alert Act by 13News Now on Scribd
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