The Origin of Amber Alert
Amber Hagerman died 25 years ago but her killer has not been caught till this day. Even though she is not here with us anymore, her death has saved the lives of multiple children.
This is the story of the origination of the Amber Alert. It is an emergency response system that disseminates information about a missing person.
Way before social media was created, a member of Amber's community, Dianne asked the local radio to release public alerts about missing people rather than the weather forecast after Amber's death.
BEGINNING:
A 9 year old girl was the victim of a brutal murder. 25 years ago, Amber Hagerman went on her last bike ride. She had decided to take advantage of a warm January day and spend it on a cool bike ramp with her younger brother Ricky. They were visiting their grandparents in the city of Arlington, Texas. Amber and Ricky went to an abandoned supermarket parking lot around 3pm on January 13th 1996. The children had spent some time laughing and riding around the favorite kids spot.
THE INCIDENT:
Ricky decided to head back home, so he did. Amber was riding her pink bike that she had gotten on the previous Christmas, enjoying the day in the sun by herself that afternoon. Those were the final moments of her childlike carelessness which were interrupted by the arrival of a suspicious black truck.
The last person who saw Amber was a 78 year old retired machinist, Jim Kevil, who was standing in his backyard when he witnessed the girl's abduction through a hole in the fence. He told the police that she was screaming and kicking and had no chance defending herself. He claimed that the kidnapper was somewhere between 25-40 years old, Hispanic and had an average built. At that same time, Amber's mother was waiting for her return as dinner was ready. It was unlike the young girl scout to disobey her parents and wander around the neighborhood. The nervous mother and grandparents sent Ricky back to go look for his sister. Young Ricky pedaled back as fast as he could, but the black truck was long gone and only Amber's pink bike was left behind.
AFTERMATH:
The incident was reported to the authorities right away. The search even included FBI agents but unfortunately she wasn't seen until 4 days later when a guy who was taking his dog for a walk behind Forest Hills apartments stumbled upon Amber's naked, tortured and deceased body in the sewer, which was 5 miles from the park where Ricky had last seen her.
The autopsy revealed abuse and torture that lasted for 2 days until her throat was cut.
The killer was never caught because the authorities did not have any witnesses part from old Jim and the running water where her body was dumped, washed away all critical forensic evidence.
According to Mike Simmons, the investigator who was in charge of the case, a large storm caused a significant volume of water over her body made tracing evidence difficult
In this case, about 8000 potential suspects were checked. But despite the effort of agents and investigators, Amber's case remains unsolved till this day.
Her death deeply touched the local community and led to the creation of an innovative emergency strategy to assist in the rescue of missing children. The idea developed and evolved into what is now known as the Amber Alert. Law enforcements are now supposed to alert radio and television channels when a child goes missing just like the way hurricane alerts are sent to stations.
American missing broadcast emergency response was created in the legacy of the kidnapped and brutally murdered Ambar Hagerman. Other than America, this system now exists in 23 other countries as well.
RECENT :
As of last year, 1085 children were rescued specifically due to Amber Alert. Till this day, police are searching for Amber's killer using newly developed and advanced DNA technologies.
The most heartbreaking thing about this case is that Donna Williams, Amber's mother, still wonders if her daughter would be alive if this system had been around during the time of her abduction. The implementation of the Amber Alert program would forever be bittersweet.
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