A bill to create missing person protocols for law enforcement in Wyoming is headed to the state Senate.
If passed, Senate File 114, will clarify jurisdictional issues for reporting missing people, define exceptions for reporting and require law enforcement reports be taken within eight hours of a person being reported missing.
It would also require law enforcement to report missing person cases to national, regional and state databases.
The proposed law swept through the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday afternoon with four members voting in favor with one senator excused.
It also has overwhelming support from members of law enforcement, the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office, Gov. Mark Gordon’s office as well as missing person nonprofits and members of the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Long Overdue
Wyoming is one of only six states that does not have such protocols in place.
And though Wyoming does have a statewide missing person database and requires the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation to collect missing person data and publish a report, there is no statute dictating that law enforcement agencies have to accept missing person reports.
File sponsor, Sen. Bill Landen, R, Casper, explained to the committee that the Western U.S. has “unfortunate” numbers when it comes to missing persons, partly because of wide-open spaces as well as the disproportionate number of tribal members impacted on the Wind River Indian Reservation, he said.
“Mr. Chairman, I will tell you that Wyoming is a little bit behind on this front,” Landen said. “Several other states have worked to be up to speed on consistent ways of handling missing persons reports.”
Why?
Paramount to the proposed law is that it mandates that credible missing person reports be taken by law enforcement and defines jurisdiction for reporting.
If passed, the law would require reports be made to the law enforcement agency within the jurisdiction where that person was last verifiably seen. In cases where there have been no sightings, jurisdiction would revert to that person’s last known residential address.
Sen. John Kolb, R, Rock Springs, questioned the need for such a bill and asked for a particular scenario for those like himself who are unfamiliar of how the process works.
Allen Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chief of Police (WASCOP), explained issues with jurisdictional reporting, using an example of a person who lives and works in different counties and routinely drives across a treacherous mountain road.
If that person failed to return home, a loved one might call the jurisdiction in which the person lives only to be told that they should call the county in which the person works as the agencies went back and forth about which one should take the report.
“I think this outlines ways that we could avoid those pointing the fingers,” Thompson said. “And also, I would like to say that law enforcement in Wyoming has believed this is not an issue, and I think you might hear testimony today that it can be an issue.”
Thompson further said that it would provide a “straight-forward playbook” that’s consistent with laws in surrounding states and that holds law enforcement accountable to the families of missing people.
“Law enforcement believes they are doing this right all the time, but then we find out that sometimes we’re not,” he said.
Sen. Landen agreed and said that in a state as large as Wyoming where people travel a lot, having clear jurisdictional boundaries such as other states would make a difference.
Everyone Should Get Gabby Petito Treatment
Desiree Tinoco, executive director and founder of the nonprofit Missing People of Wyoming, concurred that jurisdictional issues such as this one have been a major problem in the past.
Since starting the group six years ago, Tinoco has been active in working with DCI to create a statewide missing person database, and now is pushing for protocols to be in place.
She works with law enforcement to vet cases and only posts if a report has been taken by law enforcement. Getting people reported has been a problem, she said.
“I personally have seen several cases denied entry due to that individual’s lifestyle, income, criminal history and questionable backgrounds, or not having a physical address,” she said, adding she had to go out of her way to get those people reported.
“The last time I checked, Gabby Petito did not have a physical address either,” she said. “But no one had an issue reporting her missing.”
She credited the Petito family, who understood their daughter got preferential treatment and have since started a foundation to raise awareness for those who don’t.
“Unfortunately, most of the people who go missing are not young, blonde beautiful women and are often more likely to be minorities, men, the elderly, people with substance abuse or mental health issues, the so-called ‘undesirables’ who need our help the most,” Tinoco said.
Sharing Information
The proposed legislation would also require Wyoming law enforcement to report missing person cases to federal databases such as NCIC and National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
Wyoming is one of 10 states that isn’t required to do so, according to Emily Grant, senior research scientist at the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming, who was commissioned by the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office to look into how the state’s protocols compare to other states.
Grant’s report suggests that not having protocols can lead to inconsistencies in reporting while establishing protocols can often improve coordination and positive outcomes.
Fair Treatment For All
Nicole Wagon, a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe and member of Wyoming’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Task Force, also addressed the committee as an advocate and mother of two daughters who lost their lives to violence.
She said the proposed law does something simple but important: it makes sure there’s a clear and consistent response when an adult goes missing in Wyoming.
“Right now, when a family reports a missing adult, the response they get depends on where they are and who they talk to,” she said. “Some law enforcement agencies act quickly, while others tell families they have to wait.
“That’s not how this should work.”
This law would require law enforcement to act quickly during the critical first hours in which a person disappears, Wagon said.
Preventing Misuse
The law would provide exceptions for not taking missing reporting cases is if that person has lawfully fled or is being harassed, stalked or retaliated against by a former spouse or partner or anyone else intending that person harm.
When questioned about this exception by Sen. Larry Hicks, R, Baggs, Thompson clarified that it is intended to prevent law enforcement for using missing person reports as a mechanism to go after people who have absconded from upcoming criminal charges.
“We don’t want law enforcement to be using this as a mechanism to find someone when we should be using the criminal process of warrants and NCIC [the National Crime Information Center].”
Furthermore, the exception is intended to protect people in potential danger who have willfully fled in cases of abuse, separation, divorce or other instances where that person does not want to be found for their own safety.
Division of Victim Services Director Kara Chambers testifies about Senate File 114. (Matt Idler for Cowboy State Daily) 
The Senate Judiciary Committee discusses a bill outline missing persons protocols that would have to be followed if passed. (Matt Idler for Cowboy State Daily) 
Allen Thompson, executive director for Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, testifies in favor of Senate File 114. (Matt Idler for Cowboy State Daily)
Why It Matters
Big Horn Sheriff Ken Blackburn also weighed in via Zoom, sharing his experience as explanation why he supports the bill.
“The opportunity for law enforcement to work together on this is not a big lift,” he said, “and it gives us a kind of a deadline and a bit of standardization of entering these cases in a timely fashion.”
Blackburn reiterated the need to take cases quickly to protect evidence, share information with state and national databases to better solve cases.
“Having a case on file that makes it easier for us to work cold cases and bring resolution to families who are grieving,” he said. “It also has protections built into it, as was said, to protect the people that we are trying to protect from bad guys, so that law enforcement is not weaponized.”
It also prompts law enforcement to investigate in a timely matter.
He referenced the recent missing person case of Brent Layman in Lander, whereby local police issued a welfare check but did not report him missing. Unbeknownst to police, the vehicle had been discovered abandoned two weeks earlier in an impound yard in Utah prior to his being reported missing.
“These are the types of cases that would be beneficial for this,” he said.
He also said that he’s had high-visibility missing person cases in his jurisdiction in which he realized the value of law enforcement working together as well as will Facebook groups such as Tinoco’s.
“Hopefully, this will help in some small way to facilitate some of these efforts,” he said.
Saving Lives
Dave Wolfskill, a retired Laramie and Crook County Sheriff Office deputy in the Hulett area, is also in support of the bill. He told Cowboy State Daily he has been actively championing it to his local legislators and others.
Along with his career in law enforcement, Wolfskill co-founded the now defunct nonprofit We Help the Missing and has firsthand knowledge of some of the challenges of investigating missing person cases in Wyoming as a volunteer private investigator.
He sees the need for consistency among all law enforcement agencies, he said, and that families and loved ones of the missing should know they’ll get the help they deserve, regardless of jurisdiction.
“They should be able to expect that their missing family member will be a priority,” he said.
Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
