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Louisiana family urges review of Amber Alert system

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The family of a Louisiana mother and child have called for a change to the state’s Amber Alert system following the murders of their loved ones. Callie Brunett was murdered in her home earlier this month and her daughter Erin was later killed after she was abducted along with her sister. Louisiana State Police records show it took three hours for an Amber Alert to be issued after Sheriff Daniel Edwards requested it after Erin and Jalie Brunett were reported missing. State police claim the sheriff’s office filled out the form required for an earlier alert. Edwards says they provided everything necessary to issue the alert. Callie’s sister Brandi Hosch says her family will always wonder if an earlier Amber Alert would have saved Erin’s life. “I wonder if it could have been different. In my heart, I think so. But I mean, I don’t know. I, I don’t know,” Hosh said. “I just think it certainly didn’t help that it went on so long after the time when everything was found. But I guess we’ll never know.” Hosch said the Brunett family is grateful for the transparency of the various agencies investigating the case. “We really appreciate everything that everyone has done for us,” Hosch said. Rep. Dixon McMakin sent a letter to Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry last week urging the Louisiana State Police to work with lawmakers to make the process of issuing an Amber Alert less complicated. McMakin’s letter states in part, “While I know we are investigating what happened in this case, we should improve our state’s AMBER Alert process. After investigations into this issue of AMBER Alerts in the past, it is a burdensome system that we inherited and we must work to address its deficiencies.” WDSU requested a log detailing the request from the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office up until the time the Amber Alert was issued. That log is as follows:1. 9:14 a.m. The Louisiana State Police Investigative Support Section contacted TPSO and asked if assistance was needed from the Louisiana Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children (LSP-LACMEC) regarding the two missing children.2. 9:21 a.m. TPSO requested LACMEC to contact them to begin the Amber Alert process.3. 9:27 a.m. LACMEC contacted TPSO and instructed them to complete the Amber Alert request form and attach pictures of the children. 4. 10:30 a.m. LSP-LACMEC received an incomplete AMBER Alert request from TPSO.Note: Once an Amber Alert request is received, it must be reviewed to ensure there is enough information, that the information is accurate, and that the criteria for an Amber Alert are met. For more details on the Amber Alert criteria, visit https://www.lsp.org/community-outreach/alerts/amber-alerts/5. 11:45 a.m. The LSP Fusion Center has sent a Level II At-Risk/Missing Child Alert to all law enforcement agencies statewide and in surrounding states.6. 12:18 p.m. LSP Public Affairs distributes the Amber Alert press release via email and social media.7. 12:28 p.m. The first Amber Alert is sent to the Emergency Alert System. “It just took so long. I know we’ve been getting questions and my investigators wanting to know why it hasn’t happened faster,” Edwards said. “We’ve checked with State Police a few times and they say they’re working on it. Some more time passed, then the Amber Alert was issued.” The children were later found in Jackson, Mississippi. The youngest, Erin, was found dead. Her sister, Jalie, was found alive in her mother’s car at a location the FBI is investigating for possible involvement in human trafficking. Daniel Callihan and his girlfriend, Victoria Cox, were arrested in connection with the incident and later charged with murder and kidnapping. State Police issued the following statement regarding the Amber Alert: “The Amber Alert activation process is a comprehensive and ongoing process that remains active until the case is resolved. Law enforcement has numerous important responsibilities, especially in missing child cases. Louisiana State Police serves as a facilitator agency and relays information to designated broadcast partners throughout the state. Because the Amber Alert system is reserved exclusively for serious child abduction cases where the circumstances are proven to pose a life-threatening danger to the child, a thorough review of each case is required.” In the event of an Amber Alert, LSP works diligently to gather factual information from the investigating agency in order to disseminate the information to the public as quickly as possible.” WDSU asked State Police for more information regarding the incompletenesses in Edwards’ original application. WDSU also requested a copy of the original application. State Police responded with the following statement: “During the time period between receipt of the original application and authorization to disseminate the alert, LSP investigators worked to confirm critical details regarding the suspect vehicle and identifying information of the missing children. These details are necessary to make the Amber Alert complete and accurate. “Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards said state police deputies provided all necessary information for the Amber Alert and were never informed that information was missing. Read Rep. McMakin’s full letter to Gov. Landry here. Don’t see the timeline below? Tap here.==

LORANGER, Louisiana —

The family of a Louisiana mother and child have called for changes to the state’s Amber Alert system after their loved ones were murdered.

Callie Brunett was murdered in her home earlier this month and her daughter Erin was later killed after being kidnapped along with her sister.

Louisiana State Police records show it took three hours for an Amber Alert to be issued after Sheriff Daniel Edwards requested it after Erin and Jalie Brunett were reported missing.

State police claim the sheriff’s office filled out the form required for an earlier warning. Edwards says they provided everything necessary to issue the warning.

Callie’s sister Brandi Hosch says her family will always wonder if an earlier Amber Alert would have saved Erin’s life.

“I wonder if it could have been different. In my heart, I believe that. But I mean, I don’t know. I, I don’t know,” Hosh said. “I just think it certainly didn’t help that it went so far out after the time when everything was found. But I guess we’ll never know.”

Hosch said the Brunett family is grateful for the transparency of the various agencies investigating the case.

“We really appreciate everything everyone has done for us,” Hosch said.

Rep. Dixon McMakin sent a letter to Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry last week urging the Louisiana State Police to work with lawmakers to make the process of issuing an Amber Alert less complicated.

McMakin’s letter states, in part: “I know we are investigating what happened in this case, but we should improve our state’s AMBER Alert process. After investigating this issue of AMBER Alerts in the past, it has become clear to us that we inherited a long-winded system and that we must address its deficiencies.”

WDSU has requested a transcript of the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office’s inquiry leading up to the issuance of the Amber Alert.

The protocol is as follows:

1. 9:14 a.m. The Louisiana State Police Investigative Support Division contacted TPSO to inquire if assistance from the Louisiana Clearinghouse for Missing and Exploited Children (LSP-LACMEC) was needed regarding the two missing children.

2. 9:21 a.m. TPSO requested LACMEC to contact them to initiate the Amber Alert process.

3. 9:27 a.m. LACMEC contacted TPSO and instructed them to complete the Amber Alert request form and attach pictures of the children.

4. 10:30 LSP-LACMEC received an incomplete AMBER Alert request from TPSO.

Note: Once an Amber Alert request is received, it must be reviewed to ensure there is sufficient information, that the information is accurate, and that the criteria for an Amber Alert are met. For more details on the Amber Alert criteria, visit https://www.lsp.org/community-outreach/alerts/amber-alerts/

    5. 11:45 a.m.: The LSP Fusion Center has issued a Level II At-Risk/Missing Child Alert to all law enforcement agencies throughout the state and surrounding states.

    6. 12:18 p.m. LSP Public Affairs distributes the Amber Alert press release via email and social media.

    7. 12:28 p.m.: First Amber Alert sent to the emergency warning system.

    “It just took so long. I know we were getting questions and my investigators wanted to know why it wasn’t faster,” Edwards said. “We called the state police a couple of times and they say they’re working on it. Some more time passed, then the Amber Alert was issued.”

    The children were later found in Jackson, Mississippi.

    The youngest daughter, Erin, was found dead. Her sister, Jalie, was found alive in their mother’s car at a location the FBI is investigating for possible involvement in human trafficking.

    Daniel Callihan and his girlfriend Victoria Cox were arrested in connection with the incident and later charged with murder and kidnapping.

    State police issued the following statement regarding the Amber Alert:

    “The Amber Alert activation process is a comprehensive and continuous process that remains active until the case is resolved. Law enforcement agencies have numerous important responsibilities, especially in missing child cases. The Louisiana State Police serves as a facilitator agency and relays information to designated broadcast partners throughout the state. Because the Amber Alert system is reserved exclusively for serious child abduction cases where the circumstances are proven to pose a life-threatening danger to the child, a thorough review of each individual case is required.

    “In the event of an Amber Alert, LSP works diligently to gather factual information from the investigating agency in order to disseminate the information to the public as quickly as possible.”

    WDSU asked State Police for more information about the incompleteness in Edwards’ original application. WDSU also requested a copy of the original application.

    The State Police responded with the following statement:

    “During the period between receipt of the initial request and release of the alert, LSP investigators worked to confirm critical details regarding the suspect’s vehicle and the missing children’s identification information. These details are necessary to make the Amber Alert complete and accurate.”

    Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards said state police deputies provided all necessary information for the Amber Alert and were never told any information was missing.

    Read Rep. McMakin’s full letter to Governor Landry here.

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