NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The family of a once missing 3-year-old is another step closer to changing state law.
Noah Clare disappeared from Tennessee and was gone for a week and a half before he was tracked down in California with his father, Jake Clare, last year. It took authorities 11 days to issue an AMBER Alert.
It took so long for authorities to issue Noah’s AMBER Alert because his case didn’t fit federal criteria.
The change in state law would allow the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to issue alerts sooner for children at the center of active custody battles with the hope of getting them home quickly and safely.
The proposed legislation passed the Civil Justice Committee unanimously this week and will now have to pass the full floor in the House and Senate before moving to the Governor’s desk.
Currently, four pieces of criteria must be met to issue an AMBER Alert, one of those is that a child must be in imminent danger. In Noah's case, problems arose when the family couldn’t prove that he was in danger, which stalled the alert from going out.
Noah’s Law wouldn’t change the criteria, but it would allow AMBER Alerts to be issued after 48 hours for children abducted by their non-custodial parent.
