"We all know that adults sometimes leave and they don't want to be found," said Jones. "But for those who we believe are involuntarily missing, we want to have something in place that's going to have all the resources devoted to finding them as quickly as possible."
Toni Jacobs knows what it's like to be searching for a loved one.
Her daughter, Keeshae Jacobs,
was last seen at a home near Chimborazo Park in Richmond. That was September 2016.
"I asked [police], hey can we do an Amber Alert? And they were like no -- because of her age," said Jacobs.
Keeshae was 21 years old at the time.
"I was confused about that. I was like, so how is the public going to know my baby's missing?" said Jacobs.
Jacobs keeps Keeshae's picture on her car. She said social media, local media, rallies and knocking on doors has helped get the word out.
But she also thinks many families could benefit from having an alert set up for people who fall into the 18 to 60 age range and meet the criteria to be considered critically missing.
"The in between, it's like there's no urgency. There's no urgency for it. And there should be," she said.
The program is estimated to cost the state about $50,000 to implement. It goes into effect July 1.
Rep. Scott Taylor (R-Virginia) and a group of representatives are working to pass the "Ashanti Alert Act" in Congress.
