The best friend of a missing Indian Rocks Beach woman is petitioning for a new law, focused on adult missing persons.
Kelly Rothwell, a 35-year-old police cadet, went missing back in March. Her best friend, Donna Scharrett, is now helping to get a law passed that would require law enforcement to enter adult missing persons information into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center Database within 12 hours of their disappearance.
Currently, the database is only required for people 20 or younger.
“Doesn’t matter what age you are. You’re still a mother’s child, a father’s child. A sister, a brother. You still matter to somebody,” said Scharrett.
So far, the online petition has generated more than 800 signatures in eight days. The goal is 5,000 so it can be sent to U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis.
According to detectives, Rothwell’s boyfriend, David Perry, was the last person to see her alive. Friends say Rothwell was going to end the relationship. Scharrett believes Perry murdered her.
She says it’s too late to help her best friend now, but with the petition, Scharrett may be able to help someone else.
Perry has officially been named a suspect in Rothwell’s disappearance. According to detectives, he has never been co-operative in the case.
Scharrett is hoping to get the 5,000 signatures before the end of the year. She believes if Rothwell’s name had been added to the database, it could be a different situation with her case right now.
Here’s the link:http://www.change.org/petitions/kellys-law-require-ncic-listing-for-adult-missing-persons-within-12-hrs
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