KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The mid-February kidnapping death of a 10-year-old Springfield girl has led to calls to changes Missouri's Amber Alert system.
Fourth-grader Hailey Owens was walking just a block from her home when she was abducted. Springfield police responded within 10 minutes of the initial 911 call. But the statewide child abduction alert didn't go out for more than two hours.
The Kansas City Star (bit.ly/1lGr0hG ) reports that a grassroots campaign in southwest Missouri is working to speed up an alert system that requires three-page forms be filled out by hand and then sent by fax.
Middle school football coach Craig Michael Wood has been charged in the girl's death after police reported finding her body in Wood's basement.
Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com