Amber Hagerman

On January 13, 1996, nine-year-old Amber Rene Hagerman was riding her bicycle in an abandoned grocery store parking lot near her grandparents' home in Arlington, Texas. A neighbor witnessed a man pull up in a black pickup truck, grab Amber off her bicycle, and drive away. The neighbor called 911 immediately, and a massive search was launched.

Amber's body was found on January 17 in a drainage ditch in north Arlington, approximately four miles from where she was abducted. She had been held captive for approximately two days before being murdered. The cause of death was determined to be a cut to the throat.

Despite the eyewitness account, extensive forensic examination, and one of the most intensive investigations in Arlington police history, the killer was never identified. The black pickup truck was never found. DNA evidence from the crime scene was preserved but has not been matched to any individual in law enforcement databases.

Amber's legacy is the AMBER Alert system. Following her murder, Dallas-Fort Worth broadcaster Diane Simone proposed a partnership between media and police to quickly distribute information about abducted children. The resulting alert system, using Amber Hagerman's name as a backronym for 'America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response,' was adopted nationwide and has been credited with rescuing hundreds of children. Despite this profound legacy, Amber's own case remains unsolved.