Amber Hagerman

Amber Hagerman was your normal 9-year-old living in Arlington,Texas. She was in the girl scouts. She and her 5-year-old little brother, Ricky, loved to ride their bicycles together. Then, the unthinkable happened one terrifying afternoon.

Amber Hagerman Disappears 

On January 13 Amber rode her bike with her brother Ricky into a abandoned parking lot. A man in a black or dark blue pickup truck got out, forcefully grabbed amber of her bike and tossed her in the back of his truck. She screamed once and was kicking at her abductor, said by the only witness to Amber's abduction, Jimmie Kevil.

Shortly after the abduction, he called the police. But it was no avail. Despite over 50 police officers and federal agents looking for Amber, but sadly they didn't find Amber alive.

Four days later, a man walking with his dog stumbled upon her body in a creek behind Forest Hills Apartments, an apartment complex less than five miles from the parking lot where Amber had been last seen riding her bike four days before.

An autopsy later revealed that Amber had been kept alive for two days after being kidnapped. She had been beaten and sexually assaulted before her throat had been servery lacerated and her lifeless body was thrown in a creek.       Her murder is still unsolved  

Case file theories

There is really only one theory in this case: Amber was kidnapped by a stranger. 78-year-old retired machinist Jimmie Kevil witnessed Amber's abduction from his backyard.

Jimmie later stated "[Amber] screamed once and was kicking" when she was hauled into the back of his pick up truck.

Jimmie described Amber's kidnapper as "a white or Hispanic male aged 25-40, under 6 feet tall, [with a] medium build.”

Unfortunately, forensics are of little help in this case. When Amber's body was found, she was naked except for one sock, and the running water from the creek washed away any remaining forensic evidence. Mike Simonds, the investigative sergeant who was in charge of Amber's case at the time, explained, "There had been a very large storm and Amber was not only in water but in running water in a creek, so there had been a tremendous amount of water flow over her body which obviously made it hard in terms of trace evidence."

It wouldn't really surprise a lot if Amber's killer has committed similar crimes. Although its unlikely, I hope he already in prison and just hasn't yet been linked to Amber because of the lack of forensic evidence.

AMBER Alert Program

No doubt that people have heard of the AMBER Alert Program. But did you realise that it was named after Amber Hagerman? 

After Amber's murder, Diana Simone, a Fort Worth mother who had never met Amber, contacted a local radio station, she questioned why would they send out a severe weather warning but didn't alert the public when a child was abducted.

The program is currently being used in all 50 stated, Indian country,The District Of Columbia, The US Virgin Islands and 22 more countries. And according to the AMBER Alert Program website,as of November 2017, the system has resulted in the successful recovery of 897 children.

Donna Williams, Amber’s mother, has called the implementation of the AMBER Alert Program “bittersweet.” Donna cannot help but think, “What would have happened if we would have had the alert when Amber went missing? Could it have helped bring her back to me?” Although Donna is thankful for every missing child that the system assists in locating, it sadly brings her no closer to finding her daughter’s murderer. 

Who do you think murdered Amber?

There was a lot of leads in Amber's case and they have been all investigated but nothing has come from them. And despite the hard work of nearly 50 police officers and federal agents,Amber's case remains unsolved.

The police however, refuse to give up on Amber's killer. They insist that "someone out there has knowledge that will aid in bringing closure to Amber's family and our community". 

Anyone with information about Amber's murder is asked to contact Detective Ben Lopez at 817 - 459 - 5373. There is a $10,000 reward for any information leading to a arrest and a Grand Jury indictment of the suspect. Tipsters can also remain anonymous by contacting Tarrant Country crime stoppers at 817 - 469 - TIPS.