It's a story that has gained national attention, with national affiliates picking up the story trying to spread the word about the two girls' disappearance.
8-year old Elizabeth Collins and 10-year old Lyric Cook both went missing just southeast of Waterloo in Evansdale, about two and half hours from the QCA. Now Iowa and much of the nation are looking for them, but without the help of the Amber Alert system.
Evansdale police have initially said there was no Amber Alert issued because foul play was not suspected in the girls' disappearance. It's unclear whether they still believe that. Today there is still no alert for these two girls, and it's unclear if there ever will be.
"If even one of my children were missing, I would've gone ballistic had they not done an Amber Alert," Michelle James says.
"I don't really think the Amber Alert would've made much difference," Ron Milburn of Davenport says.
Almost everyone's got an opinion to the big question surrounding these two cousins' disappearance: Why wasn't an Amber Alert issued?
"We have to confirm the child has been abducted, that's the number one thing before we even move any further with the alert," Trooper Jason Wilson of Illinois State Police says.
Children also must be under 16 in Illinois, 18 in Iowa, or have a physical or mental disability.
"Then we have to believe the child is in immediate or physical danger," Wilson says.
Authorities also must have a good physical description of the child, clothing, suspect, and/or vehicle. Since most of these criteria didn't apply, Evansdale police pinpoint that as the reason there was no alert.
"The guidelines in place are there to protect us from sending out false Amber Alerts," Wilson says, "If we continue to send out false Amber Alerts, eventually it's going to be nothing but white noise."
When an alert goes out, it's seen almost everywhere; on your phone, online, and on the highway.
Police say because of that, they're careful when they alert others.
"We don't want to create that white noise scenario where we're sending out an Amber Alert every 15 or 20 minutes, and people stop paying attention to them," Wilson says, "They don't have the impact we need them to have."
That's where some say the alert system falls short. The reasoning behind Evansdale police's decision has many questioning whether the rules need to be changed.
"If those two children were missing, everyone should've been notified immediately," Mary Ann Yanke of Davenport says, "I don't care if you had a car license number or whatever."
"Once people hear that, they begin to look," she adds, "Things could've been happening right before their eyes but maybe because they thought somebody was their uncle or an aunt playing with the kids, you never know."
Right now there are five digital billboards in the Quad Cities posting information about the cousin's disappearance: three in Davenport, in the north and mid-sections of town, and two in Moline on John Deere Road.
The advertising company in charge of these billboards says they often do this as a free service to the public. A company rep tells us they're usually contacted by the FBI, but in this case an employee in their Cedar Rapids/Waterloo office had a personal connection to one of the girls' families.
These billboards are just a few of almost a hundred in Illinois, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska broadcasting the cousin's pictures and descriptions.
Company reps say the billboards are usually in the busiest intersections of each city and estimate there are over 25,000 drivers going past each location that will see them everyday.
They tell TV6 the billboards have been successful in getting children back home safe in the past, and they also issue Amber Alerts when necessary.
While these billboards may be seen by many drivers, it is not technically an Amber Alert, nor is it part of the alert system because one was never issued for the girls.
All 50 states participate in the Amber Alert program. It's been able to help nearly five hundred children come home safely since it started in 1996.
To find out more about Amber Alerts, please visit their website at: http://www.amberalert.gov/
