MO HB1757

Parents, guardians, or legal custodians must report a missing child to law enforcement within 24 hours of discovering the child's unknown whereabouts, with law enforcement forwarding reports to the patrol.

Parents, guardians, or legal custodians must notify law enforcement within one hour of discovering a dead child under age 17 or acquiring knowledge of the child's death.

Failure to report a missing child is a class A misdemeanor under endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree, or a class B felony if the child's death or serious physical injury occurs while missing.

Failure to report a dead child within one hour is a class D felony under abandonment of a corpse.

Law enforcement agencies must immediately enter missing person complaints into the Missouri uniform law enforcement system (MULES) and National Crime Information Center (NCIC) without automatic time limitations for investigation.