Suzanne's Law - Investigation of Missing Persons

"Suzanne's Law" amends Section 3701 (a) of the Crime Control Act of 1990 so that there is no waiting period before a law enforcement agency initiates an investigation of a missing person under the age of 21 and reports the missing person to the National Crime Information Center of the Department of Justice.

"Suzanne's Law" is named a after Suzane Lyall a student at State University of New York at Albany, who has been missing since 1998. Previously, police were only mandated to report missing persons under the age of eighteen. This law was signed by President George W. Bush as part of the national Amber Alert bill on April 30, 2003, which requires police to initiate prompt investigation into missing young people.

The Victoria College Police Department's policy has always been to initiate immediate investigations of reported missing persons and to contact all neighboring agencies for assistance in the investigation and safe return of any missing person.