What boggles the mind reading through these comments is how quick everyone deviates from the primary focus in order to cast stones and point fingers. Face facts. The facts are the highway patrol made a decision and, as luck would have it, they made the correct call WITHIN the Amber Alert guidelines. The Sheriff also did his job. Plain and simple fact of the matter is that there were volunteers that were turned away because there simply was no way to accomodate them all without jeopardizing their investigation/crime scene. There's always a bigger picture... try to view it before casting wild allegations.

I don't understand some of you people,how often IS THERE proof of an abduction? A car stops, maybe, grabs them,and is gone,somebody takes them from their yard and no one sees it.WhatIS THE DIFFERENCE between an endangered missing child and issueing an amber alert? Maybe the difference is it wasn't your child.? I don't know about anyone else but I feel less safe in mid missouri tonight.I think instead of relying on "White" I'll depend on my own means of protection,praying I'll never need to.My heart breaks for this mother and the family and I hope they charge the scumbag as an adult. Capable of this at 15 what about when they are 25? LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

Folks...wise up. The criteria for an Amber Alert was not met. It could not be proven much less inferred that an abduction had taken place. Besides, in this case, and Amber Alert would have done no good at all. It's easy to get a knee-jerk reaction when a kid is involved, but rational thinking must prevail. Logic dictates that you don't call out all the forces, so to speak, until you know they are needed. The mere fact that it's a nine-year-old missing does NOT qualify the need.

i really think mr greg white needs to leave office this was his call and i really think he made the wrong calls and the people of cole county need to ask the ? did he do his job or did he fail i say he faile by not putting out a amber alert but once again its alright for kids to do what they want in his county

they should have issued a amber alert for her that might have helped but go figure thats jeff city and cole county they let kids 10 yrs old stay at home alone and say it is alright to be left alone without a parent i have called myself and they said its alright its not wrong they have also told me not to call about it again what are we to do ?????????? then we have things like this happen but again they say they can stay alone u tell me whats wrong

As a tax payer in Cole Co. I am completely confused as to what the heck is the difference between a missing endangered 9 y.o. child and a possible abduction.When it comes to a little kid lets err on the side of possibly wrong than the other way. Sherriff you should have issued an amber alert right away(or requested highway patrol to do so) Highway patrol what the h--- were you thinking? Did you think she was somewhere playing dominoes? No wonder people feel like they need to defend themselves.My heartfelt regrets to the family.

If there is nothing for people to look for, there is no point in sending out an Amber Alert. If an average person on their way to work hears there is a missing little girl on the radio, what good does that do? However, in case of an abduction, and they can tell people the abductor was driving a silver Ford Mustang with license plate ABC123, people driving by would be able to identify the vehicle and report it to police. It is a horrible tragic thing that has happened to the girl, but remember who's fault it really is-not law enforcement, but the person who did this.

the amber alert issue is really bothering me. no one watched Somer Thompsons abuduction and she had an Amber Alert. Any child that goes missing deserves an Amber Alert, i just don't understand why there is not more being done about her case. My prayers go out to her and her family

Has anyone tried searching with metal detectors for the cell phone?

Please - if you’re not from here, refrain from adding your two cents about preventing something that has already happened. Have a little compassion -or read your local news and advocate in your own area. I can promise you, that crap is not needed or wanted here right now.

At what point do parents start watching their children and treating them like what they are - priceless and irreplacable. People seem to watch their purses better than they do their children these days.
I pray for this little girls safe return, and hope that these recent events will remind other parents to watch their children and keep them close enough to protect them at all times!

Has anybody searched BINDER Lake? St. Martains is nextdoor to that big lake and wooded area.

I think that the criteria to issue an amber alert is ridiculous. I agree with the person that said what do you need an eye witness of an abduction? Most of the time there are no eye witnesses and 9 year olds don't run away. You say that the difference in your endangered person and amber alert is that the average citizen doesn't see the endangered person alert. I would think you would have a better chance in finding someone if you let the average citizen in on it. There are more average citizens than there are law enforcement. There should have been an amber alert issued for this little girl. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.

Would a 9 year old be able to concoct a plan to run away that would last more than a couple of hours? If she had ran away she would've had to have the help of an adult to get far away enough from the area that she couldnt be found within 24 hours. Also, since she had a phone, a child would most likely call her best friend to tell her that she had run away. I think there needs to be some accomodations for young children, even if they dont meet the criteria for an official Amber Alert. Just flashing her picture on electronic signs, etc., someone might see her at a convenience store, etc., where they might otherwise notice her.

I think they've done the right thing by not offering an Amber Alert in this situation. The police know something they're not letting us in on and I trust they're handling it properly. Plus, who in the heck doesn't know about this story? It's been on CNN, NBC, and several other major news outlets.

I find it a bit odd that the girl in FLA walking home and doesn't make it, with no abduction seen and no "contact" either warranted an amber alert, however this child also missing walking home a short distance doesn't meet the criteria of an amber alert. Although I pray the results are not the same, the circumstances of the disappearances were very similar for one to be amber alert worthy and one isn't?

The problem with your line of thinking is that we don't know if this girl just decided to run away. I think that is one of the reasons why we have standards for the Amber Alert system. Imagine how many alerts we'd have every time someone called in just because their kid took a powder and ran off.

what kind of evidence is needed of an abduction? Eyewittness report? HOw can they just decide it's NOT an abduction? Just b/c no one visually saw it happen, that does not mean that it didn't. I would think it would be ruled in as a "possible abduction." If she had gotten just lost in the woods, she had her phone, she would have called for help you would think. I keep praying for her safe return.

Seems to me that the laws surrounding the Amber Alert need to be changed to allow a situation like this to be added. I understand that there is no "evidence" of an abduction but who cares. So if the kidnapper watches CSI a lot and is able to pull off a kidnapping without leaving any evidence let's congratulate them by not telling everyone possible about it? Come on people... I don't think that's what the parents who started this had in mind.