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DeSantis Signs Purple Alert Bill Into Law

Pictured here is governor Ron DeSantis.
Wilfredo Lee
/
AP Photo
In this April 30, 2021, file photo surrounded by lawmakers, Florida Gov.Ron DeSantis speaks at the end of a legislative session at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. Now that the pandemic appears to be waning and DeSantis is heading into his reelection campaign next year, he has emerged from the political uncertainty as one of the most prominent Republican governors and an early White House front-runner in 2024 among Donald Trump's acolytes, if the former president doesn't run again.

If someone with a disability or brain injury goes missing, a purple alert could go out to help find them. That’s due to a new law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis this week. Beverly Marshall is from Sebring. She says if a purple alert had been in place sooner, her son might still be alive. Her son had a cognitive disability and wandered away from home. He came to a 7-11 gas station but couldn’t ask for help due to his disability.

"He was distraught, and he was crying. He could not ask people for help. He couldn't speak or write. He wandered across the street from that 7-11 to a fire station, and he drowned in a pond about 30 feet from that fire station," Marshall says.

Marshall says if a purple alert had gone out, someone might have helped her son at the gas station.

Robbie Gaffney graduated from Florida State University with degrees in Digital Media Production and Creative Writing. Before working at WFSU, they recorded FSU’s basketball and baseball games for Seminole Productions as well as interned for the PBS Station in Largo, Florida. Robbie loves playing video games such as Shadow of the Colossus, Animal Crossing, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Their other hobbies include sleeping and watching anime.