UPDATE 11:00 a.m. Thursday: In a news conference, Franklin County Sheriff’s Department said with information they have received, they presume little Lana Bailey is dead. At the time of the news conference police had not yet recovered the body, but were searching for her. Police said they arrested Kyle Flack, 27, in connection with the triple homicide in Franklin County. See details on those developments here.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Authorities in Franklin County held a news conference Wednesday afternoon and were expected to announce an Amber Alert for the missing one-year-old girl, whose mother was one of three people found dead on a rural Ottawa farm this week.
Instead, they announced that they had just learned the Kansas Bureau of Investigation denied their request for an AMBER ALERT.
Sheriff Jeff Richards of Franklin County said KBI authorities determined their request did not meet criteria.
SEE ALSO: Family begs for safe return of little Lana
“We just got off the phone with the KBI. We’ve been told that based on their criteria and the information that they have, they’ve denied the Amber Alert at this time. They’ll be doing a state wide media release,” Sheriff Richards said.
Richards also released the names of the victims; the same names family members and friends have been naming all week.
The victims are:
- Kaylie Bailey, the 21-year-old mother of Lana Bailey, the missing child.
- Andrew Stout, 30, who lived at the farm where the bodies were found.
- Steven White, 31, who also lived at the farm with Stout.
Police said they did not have anyone in custody at this time, but were interviewing a person of interest.
Lana Bailey was last seen last week with her mother, Kaylie.
Lana is 2 feet tall, 30 lbs., with light brown hair, blue eyes. She was last seen on May 1 in Olathe, Kan., on her way to rural Franklin county with her mother, Kaylie Bailey.
Kaylie’s vehicle has been recovered in Emporia, Kan.
If you have any information on the location of Lana Bailey, please call 911 or 888-311-8477 or the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-K- CRIME.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to call the Franklin County TIPS hotline at 888-311-TIPS.
“We’re still working on that to find out what they’re going to need to upgrade that to an Amber Alert,” said Richards. “Once this press conference is over, we will find out what else there is they are looking for.”
“The media had been actively following the case for several days now and the information, including pictures of the missing child, have been widely circulated,” KBI said in a news release.
In addition, “Utilizing the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at this point to interrupt broadcasts by the media would not enhance coverage and be an improper taking of private property given the delayed request,” according to KBI.
The KBI said despite not using the EAS, “all aspects of an AMBER alert are being utilized.”
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