COLUMBUS, Ohio — More than a year and a half after a 6-year-old boy drowned in a West Chester pond, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill aiming to prevent similar tragedies.
House Bill 359 will create a statewide emergency alert system to send emergency notices out when children who have autism or other developmental disabilities go missing.
Sponsored by state Reps. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati) and Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester), the bill names the emergency alert system the “Joshua Alert” in honor of Joshua Al-Lateef Jr., an autistic and nonverbal child who was reported missing from his West Chester apartment complex and later found in a nearby pond…