"The death of 16-year-old Alicia Moore has been ruled a homicide," said Greenville Police cheif Dan Busken today in a press conference. Greenville Police will join with the Van Zandt County Sheriff and the Texas Rangers in the investigation into the death of Alicia Moore.
Moore was originally reported missing last Friday and her body was discovered yesterday in a furniture trunk along a FM 47 near Wills Point.
Chief Busken also addressed questions concerning the reason no Amber Alert was issued when Moore became missing.
According to the Texas governor's office, an Amber Alert activation requires the child to be under 18, law enforcement must believe the child was unwillingly taken without permission, be in immediate danger, an investigation has eliminated further explanations, and sufficient information is available to give the public. Busken said police did not have enough information to meet all of those criteria, specifically citing the inability to be certain Moore was abducted.
Greenville Superintendent Don Jefferies also spoke at the press conference, detailing the investigation the district had been conducting, including the ultimate failure of efforts to track a school-issued iPad checked out to Moore.
Jefferies also said the district had been contacted by several area churches and pastors offering to help students in this time of grief.