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Let’s get started! Today marks the first day of April, the National Child Abuse Prevention Month and today is the first day of my first Blogging from A to Z challenge.
In honor of the letter “A”, let’s discuss Amber Hagerman, a sweet 9-year-old who’s abduction and murder 20 years ago led to the famous AMBER Alert program.
A brief history of Amber Hagerman:
On 13 January 1996, 9-year-old Amber Rene Hagerman (born 25 November 1986) was abducted while riding her bike with her little brother in Arlington, Texas, USA. A neighbor witnessed the abduction and immediately called the police. Amber’s mother, Donna Whitson, subsequently called the news media and the FBI. Locals began a search for Amber until four days after the abduction, a man found her young and lifeless body in a storm drainage ditch.
Sadly twenty years later her killer has not been found, and her homicide remains unsolved.
The AMBER Alert and Child Rescue Alert:
Within days of Amber’s death, Donna Whitson was “calling for tougher laws governing sex offenders”
In June 1996, Donna spoke to the U.S. Congress pushing for a nationwide sex offender registry and the state of California (where I reside) first established the AMBER Alert system statewide on 24 July 2002.
In the United Kingdom, the nationwide launch of the Child Rescue Alert, based on the AMBER Alert system, launched on 25 May 2010.
In Memorium of Amber Hagerman:
Whenever you see an AMBER Alert or hear of a child who has been abducted, let’s remember the young Amber Rene Hagerman who died tragically early in 1996. Twenty years later, she would be 29 years old.
Amber Hagerman In Film:
If you would like to hear more about Amber’s story, the 2006 Lifetime movie starring Elisabeth Röhm is both educative and pulls at the heartstrings.
Hope you enjoyed this first A to Z Challenge post! x
That is such a horrible story. I can’t fathom how some people can do what they do. I never knew where the Amber alert came from. Thank you so much for sharing this.
I honestly had no idea that Amber alert referred to a person – I always assumed it was to do with a warning colour – thank you for educating me. Best of luck with the AtoZ.
Tasha ?
i’m so glad you learned something! i hope you have a successful AtoZ and will look forward to reading your website too.
nice
Thanks for telling us about Amber. She deserved better.
Indeed.
Hi from another A to Zer…thanks for the reminder, it's important to remember the children lost. And be grateful for the ones the Amber Alert has saved.
Isa-Lee
Thanks for following along this month, Isa-lee!
Good for you for shining a light and letting people know/remember that the Amber Alert is named after an actual little girl. What a sad, but important story.
(I write about Child Abuse Prevention Month in my C post.)
@dSavannahCreate from
dSavannahRambles
#AtoZChallenge2016 theme: dSavannah Defects
Sad her murderer was never found.
Wow. I never knew where that term came from. Thank you for telling us! It is a story to remember.
@TarkabarkaHolgy from
The Multicolored Diary
MopDog
And never forget.