The Tragic, True Story Behind The Amber Alert

<div><p>Many people recognize the alarm that sounds when an AMBER Alert interrupts local and national television and radio programs. Maybe you've seen the Alert notice on your cellphone. </p><p>It's an all-too familiar call for help, a missing child with only hours before the trail goes cold. Every second counts and the longer they are missing, the harder it is to trace them. </p><p>We all know what the AMBER Alert is, but many people of this generation don't know how it came to be.</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20_years_since_Amber_Hagerman_disappeare_0_714773_ver1-0_640_360.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/20_years_since_Amber_Hagerman_disappeare_0_714773_ver1-0_640_360_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>FOX 4 News</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>It begins with a 9-year-old girl named Amber Hagerman. On January 13, 1996, Amber was grabbed off of her bicycle in a local grocery store parking lot.</p><p>Witnesses spotted a blue truck leaving the scene, but there were no more details about her abductor. </p><p>A neighbor who saw the incident called police, while Amber's little brother ran home to tell his family what had happened. </p><p><strong>Learn how law enforcement and media responded to the abduction on Page 2</strong></p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p></p><p></p><h3>The Search</h3><p>When Amber's father, Richard Hagerman and her mother, Donna Whitson (now Donna Norris) found out about their daughter's disappearance, they leapt into action. </p><p>Her parents called the news media and the FBI to report their daughter's abduction. Along with their neighbors and local police, Amber's parents searched for four days after the abduction. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/301A806500000578-3396335-image-a-2_1452639251112.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/301A806500000578-3396335-image-a-2_1452639251112_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><h3>Tragic End</h3><p>In spite of widespread media attention and full national coverage, the search ended in tragedy when a dog walker found the little girl's lifeless body on the fifth day. </p><p>She was found with her throat slit, floating in a creek only a few miles from the grocery store.</p><div><figure><a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/who-killed-amber-hagerman-murder-case-that-inspired-amber-alerts-unsolved-20-years-later-142605215.html" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/aaa6ee50-b8bb-11e5-92ff-fbd2c901645a_Donna_Williams_2016.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/aaa6ee50-b8bb-11e5-92ff-fbd2c901645a_Donna_Williams_2016_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a></figure></div><p><strong>What happened after Amber's funeral changed the fate of every abducted child in the future...</strong></p><p></p><p></p><h3>On Alert</h3><p>One day after little Amber's funeral, a Fort Worth mother named Diana Simone called a local radio station with an idea.</p><p>She was deeply moved by the family's loss and thought there must be something more that communities can do to catch abductors before it's too late.</p><p>Her idea was to create a system that allowed broadcasters to alert the public to missing children - much like they already did with severe weather.</p><p>In February, 1996, <a href="https://www.amberalert.gov/"><strong>America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response</strong></a> (AMBER) was officially formed and named after Amber Hagerman.</p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><div><figure><a href="https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=images&amp;cd=&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjoq-Gc5cLTAhUKzIMKHTrpADQQjhwIBQ&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-3396335%2FThe-unsolved-murder-girl-inspired-Amber-Alerts-Police-renew-vow-slasher-kidnapped-murdered-Amber-Hagerman-20-years-ago.html&amp;psig=AFQjCNGWUf7WAlZaMMA9MWMb6RE5dad4xw&amp;ust=1493317980897844" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/301A622A00000578-3396335-image-a-3_1452639418139.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/301A622A00000578-3396335-image-a-3_1452639418139_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite><a href="https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=images&amp;cd=&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjoq-Gc5cLTAhUKzIMKHTrpADQQjhwIBQ&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-3396335%2FThe-unsolved-murder-girl-inspired-Amber-Alerts-Police-renew-vow-slasher-kidnapped-murdered-Amber-Hagerman-20-years-ago.html&amp;psig=AFQjCNGWUf7WAlZaMMA9MWMb6RE5dad4xw&amp;ust=1493317980897844" target="_blank">Getty Images</a></cite></figcaption></figure></div><h3>Still Missing</h3><p>The Amber Alert Program is used nationwide as well as in over 20 other countries. According to the<a href="http://www.missingkids.com/home" target="_blank"> National Center for Missing &amp; Exploited Children</a>, the startling warnings have led to the rescue of almost 800 missing kids.</p><p>As for Donna Williams, she still prays for justice to come to Amber's killer. It's been 21 years since the death of her daughter and the pain never really went away.</p><p>"I still want justice for Amber, but I can't deal with everything right now," she told <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/who-killed-amber-hagerman-murder-case-that-inspired-amber-alerts-unsolved-20-years-later-142605215.html" target="_blank">Yahoo News</a>, "I miss her a lot."</p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p></div>