AUGUSTA – Two bills requiring notification of authorities when a child is missing drew support Thursday from Gov. Paul LePage, police and lawmakers who said they have been flooded with emails since last year’s disappearance of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony in Florida, which inspired the proposals.

Those testifying before the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee also spoke of a case much closer to home, the disappearance of 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds of Waterville just over a month ago, even though she was reported missing hours after she was last seen, not the month it took Caylee Anthony’s mother to report her child missing.

Caylee’s mother, Casey Anthony, was acquitted of murder last summer.

Since then, outraged Maine residents have demanded legislation “to send a clear message that such neglect will not be tolerated,” said Rep. Joyce Maker, R-Calais, who spoke in favor of both bills.

One bill would make failure to report a child missing within 24 hours a crime, and the other would do the same for failing to report a child under 13 years old missing within 48 hours.

Quick reporting of a missing child is key to either finding the child or successfully investigating an abduction, Winthrop police Chief Joe Young, representing the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, told the committee.

“It’s reprehensible to think a parent or guardian would not know the whereabouts of their children at all times,” said Young.

The sponsor of the bill to set a 48-hour limit, Rep. Anna Blodgett, D-Augusta, said Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey told her he’s “very supportive” of her proposal. The search for Ayla Reynolds has centered in Waterville.

The governor’s legal counsel, Dan Billings, said LePage supports both bills, adding they should be seen not as “a reaction to the headlines” from the Florida case but as a hedge against a similar event in Maine.

Not everybody at the hearing agreed.

Representing the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Walter McKee said the bills surfaced without even anecdotal evidence of a problem in Maine.

“This is really and truly a solution in search of a problem,” said McKee.

While not taking a hard a stand against the bills, the Maine Criminal Law Advisory Commission urged caution as lawmakers deliberate the proposals.

Representing the legislatively created commission, John Pelletier said very few Maine statutes call for mandatory reporting, which “can have many unforeseen consequences.”

For example, the bills if not carefully crafted could make parents who fail to tell police that their child died of a disease guilty of a crime.

Pelletier advised lawmakers to “take a limited step, be on the guard for unforeseen consequences.”