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Two years after Lily Peters’ death, her case plays a role in changing Wisconsin law
The Wisconsin State Legislature passed a bill this year to expand the alert system for missing kids, in part because of the Lily Peters case.
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — More than two years have passed since the murder of 10-year-old Lily Peters in April 2022, a case that rocked the Chippewa Valley region of Western Wisconsin and garnered headlines in the Twin Cities and nationally.
The young girl’s disappearance and killing in Chippewa Falls also exposed a gap in Wisconsin’s alert system for missing children.
Despite Peters’ father reporting her missing around 9 p.m. on the Sunday evening of April 24, 2022, law enforcement could not issue an AMBER Alert because police did not have a clear enough descriptions of either the suspect or a vehicle. Those stringent federal guidelines are in place, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, to guard against possible overuse that “could lead to abuse of the system and ultimately weaken its effectiveness.”
Still, as the frantic search for Peters continued into the morning of April 25, lifelong Chippewa Falls Eric Henry wondered why he did not see any alerts on his phone about the missing 10-year-old.
“It really struck a chord, knowing I lived really close to there, not having answers on what’s going on,” Henry said. “Nothing’s going off on my phone. I’m literally reading it through Facebook.”
Tragically, police soon found Peters’ body in the woods and arrested a 14-year-old suspect in her murder.
While it’s not clear if the issuing of an AMBER Alert could have changed the outcome of the case, Henry still couldn’t figure out why he did not receive a notification of any kind. As he returned to work during those dark days following Peters’ murder, he could not get the thought out of his mind.
“I was very curious about why there was no alert or anything sent out,” Henry said. “It sounded like — I don’t want to say a flaw in the system — but there was something missing. Clearly, it needed to be addressed.”
So, Henry decided to take action.
On the website Change.org, he created a petition to lobby for the creation of a “Lily alert.” Although his idea not make specific policy recommendations, he wanted to raise awareness more generally for an alert system with “less regulations around it so we can respond quicker to missing children.” The petition quickly made the rounds online with an astounding number of signatures — to this day, nearly 200,000 people have signed it.
Henry brought the petition to Wisconsin State Sen. Jesse James, who was a member of the State Assembly at the time.
James, a Chippewa Valley native, is the legislature’s only active law enforcement member.
“I want to say almost every legislator in Wisconsin was made aware of (the petition),” James said. “The community speaks volumes when this type of situation happens and they wanted to see action.”
James described a difficult process at first. He held meetings with law enforcement, prosecutors and other stakeholders but found that the Wisconsin legislature had very little power to make changes to federal AMBER Alert guidelines.
The breakthrough came when James, a Republican, met with Democratic State Senator LaTonya Johnson of Milwaukee. While interacting during an event, Johnson told James the story of Prince McCree, a five-year-old who went missing in Milwaukee but also never had an AMBER Alert issued because the case did not meet federal guidelines. The similarities floored James.
“I’m like, what?” James said. “We shared what happened with Lily — and she was aware of it — and she’s like, ‘will you help me? I have an idea.'”
From there, Sen. Johnson and Sen. James led a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in crafting legislation to expand the state’s alert systems for missing children. Unable to adjust AMBER Alert guidelines, they instead focused their energy on the state’s Silver Alert system, which has typically been used for vulnerable adults.
Ultimately, they passed a bill to give law enforcement broader authority to issue Silver Alerts for missing children who might be in danger but don’t meet the AMBER Alert threshold. Specifically, the expanded Silver Alert system will apply to kids younger than 10.
The new law is named the “Prince Act” for Prince McCree but honors the memory of both Prince and Lily. Their families were all present when Gov. Evers signed the bill into law last April, and the governor’s office mentioned both cases in its official press release.
“(Sen. Johnson) is a Democratic Senator, I’m a Republican Senator, but working bipartisan, this just shows we do work together,” Sen. James said. “If it saves one child… we won.”
Eric Henry, meanwhile, remains humble. He was quick to credit James and other legislators for putting his idea into law.
But, make no mistake, he played a role in this, too.
“For me to just kind of poke the bear, and start a petition,” Henry said, “I think it’s a miracle that it came together.”
Gary Peterson and his friends are collecting donations to help people in their community.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A St. Louis Park pumpkin display is raising money for their local food shelf.
Gary Peterson started carving and painting three pumpkins over a decade ago. It’s now grown to over 100.
“I’ve heard people say they’ve come from Hutchinson,” he said.
Peterson along with two of his neighbors have spent the last 14 years growing their display, turning it into a neighborhood event.
“It’s been incredible, I just can’t believe how much this has expanded,” he said. “We did it just because we like to and then people were asking to give us money to cover the cost.”
The trio refused to take people’s money, but then one of them had an idea.
“My neighbor, Steve Leensvaart, just mentioned how about we just do it for the STEP program and the STEP program is our local food shelf in St. Louis Park,” he said.
So, they started to collect donations to help families in need. They’ve raised hundreds of dollars and donated hundreds of pounds of food over the last few years, carving for a cause.
“It is more gratifying every year,” Peterson said.
He estimated they have over 100 unique pumpkins in their yard. They’ve created the displays and come up with new family-friendly concepts for people to enjoy. Peterson said about 30 of their neighbors carved their own pumpkins to be put on display, and it’s been a big hit.
“It’s great. In the last couple of years, it’s turned into more of a neighborhood event,” said Sarah Durch.
“We love this Halloween display, we come every year to see it. We love that the whole community gets involved to craft and carve the pumpkins,” said Jami Gordon-Smith.
“The shading and the details are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Hanson.
Hanson hopes to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time but is worried the cold temperatures might keep them indoors.
“We’re going trick or treating hopefully,” she said. “He’s going to be a firefighter, but we’re probably going to have sweatshirts maybe like two pairs of sweatpants underneath. We’re going to be bundled up.”
Gordon-Smith said her family will be out Halloween night no matter the weather.
“Halloween only comes once a year, so you really have to take advantage and enjoy the evening no matter what the weather brings,” she said. “Guess it’s not totally unheard of in Minnesota to have a cold Halloween, but we are going to try and modify and do a lot of layers underneath our costumes and then we might add some hats and maybe some warmer socks.”
Durch also isn’t surprised they’re in for another chilly night.
“Well, what would Halloween be without Minnesota cold? I feel like every time you plan a costume you have to plan for how you can make this work if it’s snowing,” she said.
Peterson said they will have a bonfire and some hot chocolate and cider on Halloween to keep trick-or-treaters warm while they look at their pumpkins.
Click here to learn where you can see the pumpkins and how you can donate.
Jeremy Jourdain was 17 when he was last seen on Halloween 2016.
BEMIDJI, Minn. — The search for Jeremy Jourdain, who was last seen on Halloween in 2016, continues now eight years later.
Jourdain was last seen at a family member’s house in Bemidji, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. He left the residence near the 500 block of Wood Avenue after midnight and while people followed him, no one was able to find him.
Jourdain was 17 at the time.
Officials said he was wearing a blue and grey sweatshirt, and blue jeans when last seen. He is Native American and is described as 6 foot 5 and 175 pounds.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, you can contact the Bemidji Police Department at (218) 333-9111. Tips can also be sent to 1-833-560-2065, or you can email ojs_mmu@bia.gov.
The organizations say many Asian Americans are planning to vote despite lack of candidate outreach.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Most people have been contacted in some way shape or form by a campaign in the last few weeks. And if the polls are right and the race for president is a dead heat, every vote will matter.
That’s why this is a head scratcher:
According to a September 2024 voter survey by Asian American Pacific Islander Data, 27% of Asian-American voters said they hadn’t been contacted by either political party trying to get their vote. Last spring, earlier in the voting season, it was even more – 42%.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing racial or ethnic group nationwide.
Their voter participation levels are growing too, with 60% of eligible Asian-American voters turning out in 2020. And AAPI Data reports as many as 90% of Asian Americans they surveyed said they plan to vote this cycle.
“Candidates are not reaching out to Asian Americans, which is a huge mistake,” said ThaoMee Xiong, executive and networking director of the Coalition of Asian American Leaders.
She says even though there are more than 200,000 eligible Asian voters in Minnesota, the Asian vote is under-appreciated.
“Neither the Democratic or Republican parties have been reaching out in huge numbers,” Xiong said. “They’re sending general mailers to everyone but … they need it in their native language.”
That’s why CAAL is partnering with two more organizations to keep voter turnout high and reach anyone candidates or advocates missed.
Xor Xiong is from Asian American Organizing Project, which focuses on engaging metro-area teens and young adults.
“Many of our communities are still facing barriers to go to vote,” he said. “There’s been more times than I like to admit in terms of when I was having a conversation over the phones of voters being surprised that they can take time off to go and vote, or they can bring the kids to the polling locations, or they can even bring someone to translate for them.”
“In Ramsey County, because of the large Hmong American population there, the polls in Ramsey County are federally required to provide interpreters and translated materials,” ThaoMee added.
Their nonpartisan campaign, Get Out the Vote for Asian Minnesotans, aims to get people registered and well-informed.
“Throughout Covid, there was a lot of anti-hate around the AAPI community and we are still feeling the impact of that to this day,” said Amanda Xiong, a community organizer with a group known as CAPI USA. “Even if folks are afraid to go to the polls, due to that, we try our best to then educate them around absentee ballots, voting early.”
“And so yes, there is a huge increase in terms of voter turnout, but then why is it still 70% feel as though they don’t belong?”
In 2021, the FBI reported a 168% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes.
In Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, the groups knocked on at least 700 doors in one session alone while keeping safety top of mind.
“We make sure that there’s a car following all the door knockers,” ThaoMee said. “We put everyone on text chain … and we are putting a lot of precautionary measures in place for the day of voting.”
After the election, the CAAL plans to conduct surveys and send the results to county election officials. They’ve done this before and say it led to policy changes this year at the legislature including measures to ensure people have easier access to interpreters.
