Amber Hagerman is a 9-year-old little girl whose legacy has helped change the lives of thousands of people in the last three decades. Unfortunately, Amber Hagerman’s story has a tragic ending, but out of the tragedy a new system was born that would ultimately help save the lives of thousands of children all over the world. Every January 13 is AMBER Alert Awareness Day where the nation remembers the little girl who was abducted and murdered in in January of 1996. Her story inspired the creation of the nation-wide system, known as the Amber Alert, that allows law enforcement to quickly alert the public to child abductions.
Though Amber’s case remains unsolved and her killer has never seen justice, we can hold onto the hope that through scientific advancements in DNA research we may one day find the person responsible for taking her life.
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to the Dark Oak
01:10 Amber Hagerman
45:20 The Brand of Hope – JED Foundation
Sources:
Frequently asked Questions | AMBER Alert. (n.d.). AMBER Alert. https://amberalert.ojp.gov/about/faqs#faq3
Staff, U. (2024, April 15). 5 stories of kidnapped children who were rescued. Upworthy. https://www.upworthy.com/5-incredible-stories-of-missing-kids-that-were-rescued-in-nick-of-time-rp3
Still searching for Amber’s killer. (n.d.). National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2021/still-searching-for-ambers-killer
Amber Alert | Highland Beach, FL. (n.d.). https://highlandbeach.us/230/Amber-Alert
DeLong, W. (2023, May 25). Amber Hagerman, the 9-Year-Old whose murder inspired AMBER alerts. All That’s Interesting. https://allthatsinteresting.com/amber-hagerman
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This episode of The Dark Oak was created, researched, written, recorded, hosted, edited, published, and marketed by Cynthia and Stefanie of Just Us Gals Productions with artwork by Justyse Himes and Music by Ryan Creep