In January
1996, nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was riding her bicycle on a warm
Saturday afternoon when a witness heard the girl scream. The witness
saw a man pull Amber off her bike, throw her into the front seat
of his pickup truck, and drive away at a high speed.
The witness called police and provided a description of the suspect
and his vehicle, but couldn’t recall much else. Arlington Police
and the FBI interviewed other neighbors and searched for the suspect
and vehicle. Local radio and TV stations covered the story in their
regular newscasts.
Four days later, Amber’s body was found in a drainage ditch four
miles away. Her throat had been cut. Her kidnapping and murder remain
unsolved.
A concerned citizen contacted a Dallas area radio station, suggesting
the idea that Dallas radio stations should repeat news bulletins about
abducted children just like they do severe weather warnings.
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The idea was presented to the Association of Radio Managers (ARM) composed of
general managers of the major radio stations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
The general managers agreed that such a program would provide an important
public service and might help save the life of a child.
The Dallas Amber Plan was started in July 1997 to help safely recover missing
children that police believe have been abducted. Since then, the program has
successfully recovered hundreds of children and expanded to across the United
States to other cities and all states and US territories. (NCMEC
Amber site:
http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=991)
More information
about the Amber Plan
IN MEMORY OF ALL ABDUCTED CHILDREN
Although the Amber Plan is named after Amber Hagerman, this national
program is dedicated to all children nationwide who’ve been abducted.
How often does it happen? According to the U.S. Department
of Justice, up to 4,600 children are abducted by strangers every year
(about 12 children
nationwide every day).
Many families and friends of abducted children have established
their own non-profit organizations or foundations with extensive websites
to assist, support, and educate all parents and children, and these
can
be found at:
Texas Missing Person Clearinghouse
The Missing Persons Clearinghouse (MPCH) is part of the
Criminal Intelligence Service of the Texas Department of Public Safety
(TX DPS), Criminal Law
Enforcement (CLE) Division. The MPCH was established to meet the needs
of law enforcement and the public in handling the problem of missing
and unidentified persons.
The
Amber Plan’s goal is the safe recovery of every abducted child.
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