ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed hundreds of bills into law Thursday. Among them is a bill creating a Purple Alert notification system in the state.
Under the law, that will take effect Oct. 1, agencies will be able to issue an alert if a person with an intellectual developmental disability or brain injury is missing. It fills the gap that exists when a person is too young to qualify for a Silver Alert, and too old for an Amber Alert.
One Maryland family has been pushing for the new alert for months.
Last year, 31-year-old Rashawn Williams was missing for nearly a week before he was eventually found safely, but his parents were frustrated no alert went out to notify the public he was missing.
Williams has severe down syndrome and is nonverbal. Because of certain criteria, he did not qualify for any statewide alerts at the time.
His family said the whole experience was a nightmare, and they want to make sure no other family has to go through what they did. That's why they testified in February at a Senate hearing about what happened, and how Williams' case fell through the cracks when it came to the alert system.
"It was a horrendous situation he was in, "Williams' father, Jimmy Hall said. "This Purple Alert program will benefit the next family so they don't have to go through it."
Right now, Florida is the only state that has implemented the Purple Alert system. Mississippi is currently working on legislation to implement it.
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