Virginia State Police are making changes to the Ashanti Alert system following a letter from Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.).
Senator Warner has been pushing for change since December following the Virginia Beach case involving Marie Covington.
An Ashanti Alert for Covington was sent out two days after she was reported missing, and just hours before she was found dead in a garbage can in Norfolk.
Under the new policies, Virginia State Police will now contact local agencies about possible Ashanti Alerts once a missing person report is filed. Previously, local law enforcement had to alert state police about specific cases.
Senator Warner said in a statement, “I’m pleased to see the Commonwealth approach this issue in a thoughtful manner and act to ensure that the Ashanti Alert is able to achieve its intended purpose of saving lives. While it’s impossible to design a perfect system that prevents every tragedy, it’s my hope that Virginia’s revised missing person report form will increase transparency and clarity, and that the Commonwealth’s commitment to proactively contact local police to see if an Ashanti Alert is necessary will prevent urgent cases from slipping through the cracks. I look forward to seeing the Virginia State Police work to inform local law enforcement about the Ashanti Alert process and ensure that it is closely followed.”
The Ashanti Alert Act is named after Ashanti Billie, a 19-year-old who was abducted in Norfolk on Sep. 18, 2017.
Her body was discovered in North Carolina 11 days after she was first reported missing. At the time of Ashanti’s abduction, she was too old for an Amber Alert and too young for a Silver Alert.
The Ashanti Alert, like the other alert systems, would notify the public about missing or endangered adults through radio and television broadcast systems to assist law enforcement in the search.
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