Country Club Police Chief describes missing persons procedures in runaway case

By Leah Rainwater

Ally S. Scott was last seen on Dec. 20, 2023 in her home and reportedly ran away on Dec. 21, 2023.

Since then the search has been on to find the missing 14-year-old.

Scott is described as a white female with shoulder-length brown hair and hazel eyes. She is 5 feet, 4 inches tall. 

Country Club Police Chief Chris Black says when it comes to missing persons cases, the department takes them very seriously. 

“First of all, we take our report and we enter that into NCIC, which is a national crime computer for runaways and missing persons,” said Black. “We start following up on any leads that the parents, friends, loved one’s, relatives might have. Then we’ll start looking around in the local area for that. Once the investigation kind of goes dry, that’s when we really reach out to the media to get that information out to the public and hopefully the public can generate some leads for us.”

Black says missing persons cases aren’t always easy.

“Sometimes leads dry up and you have to just try to get creative about other ways of getting things out to the public,” said Black.

In the case of Ally Scott, Black says the department is trying to do what it can to get her home safe. 

“They’re children and, you know, kids don’t always make the best decisions and stuff like that, and as adults, it’s our job to make sure that they’re safe,” said Black. “We don’t know where Ally is right now, we think that she’s in St. Joseph, and if she is in St. Joseph, the hopefully someone will see her and get that reported.”

Black says if anyone has information on Scott to call the Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline at (816) 238-8477, or contact the local police department.