MADISON — The PRINCE Act passed unanimously in both the State Assembly and Senate on Thursday. It expands Silver Alert criteria to cover children who do not qualify for an Amber Alert.
The PRINCE Act is named in memory of five-year-old Prince McCree, who went missing and was later found murdered in Milwaukee last year. A federal Amber Alert was never issued for Prince because his disappearance did not meet all the criteria — a suspect and vehicle description were not available.
A similar situation happened in 2022 when 10-year-old Lily Peters was murdered in Chippewa Falls. Her disappearance also failed to meet Amber Alert criteria.
“The passage of this bill fulfills my promise to the families of Prince McCree and Lily Peters, and to the families of missing children around the state,” said Senator LaTonya Johnson in a press release. “I am deeply moved and grateful for the bipartisan support that the PRINCE Act received, and I look forward to seeing Governor Evers sign this bill into law.”
Under the PRINCE Act, any missing child under 10 years old who does not meet all Amber Alert criteria would qualify for a Silver Alert. Silver Alerts have previously been reserved for a missing person over 60 years old with a cognitive impairment like Alzheimer’s or dementia.
Senator Johnson joined Wisconsin’s Afternoon News last year after Prince was murdered. She lives just five houses away from his home and said that the critical missing alert issued for Prince wasn’t enough to alert the community.
“If someone isn’t in front of a radio or television, they’re going to miss that information,” she said. “There were individuals on our own block who went to bed that night and didn’t even know he was missing, then woke up that morning to find out he was dead.”
The state Department of Justice will still have the final decision on whether or not to issue a Silver Alert for a missing child.
