Remembering Hailey Owens: Five years later

It’s been five years since the tragic death of 10-year-old Hailey Owens, of Springfield.

Hailey was walking home from a friend’s house on February 18th, 2014, when a man, later identified as Craig Wood,  grabbed her and sped away in a pickup truck. Her body was later found in Wood’s basement.

Both Owens’ and Wood’s families have been working together to get lawmakers to pass new legislation to speed up the process of issuing Amber Alerts, naming it Hailey’s Law. In her case, the statewide alert about her abduction didn’t go out until more than two hours after the first 911 call.

Wood was found guilty of first-degree murder on November 2, 2017. A judge then sentenced him to death on January 11, 2018. He’s currently in prison awaiting the appeals process.