On Dec. 1, Kari Hunt Dunn was stabbed to death in the bathroom of a Marshall, Texas, motel room. Her 9-year-old daughter, who was in the room with her two siblings, tried to call 911 four times -- just as she had learned.
But in this emergency, none of the calls got through, reports the L.A. Times.
"She didn't know she was supposed to dial an extra 9 first to get an outside line," said Hank Hunt, Dunn's father and grandfather of the 9-year-old.
The family tragedy prompted Hunt, 54, to begin a petition on Change.org called "Let Hotel Phones Dial 911 Easily: Help Enact Kari's Law," which has more than 400,000 signatures. On Monday his effort gained a powerful ally: the Federal Communications Commission.