The Murder of Amber Hagerman

The 1996 unsolved abduction and murder of Amber Hagerman is what inspired the creation of the ‘Amber Alert.’

On January 12, 1966 around 3 p.m., Amber and her brother Ricky, 5, went biking after arriving at their grandparent’s house. The two children were told not to go further than a block away, however, they biked about 2 blocks away to an abandoned Winn Dixie supermarket. Shortly after, Ricky decided to bike home while Amber continued to ride her bike around the Winn Dixie Parking lot. Moments later, a man in a pickup truck approached Amber, putting her in the back of his pickup truck, and drove away.

When Ricky returned home alone, his family demanded he go back and get Amber, however, after noticing she was gone, he quickly returned home. The family then rushed to the abandoned lot where only Amber’s pink bike was found.

Soon, police arrived at the supermarket after receiving a call from 78-year-old Jim Kevil, who had witnessed the abduction.

A search quickly began, but four days later, Amber’s naked body was found in a creek behind an apartment building. An autopsy revealed she had been sexually assaulted and her throat was slashed.

After no leads in the case, it went cold.

This case led to the creation of the ‘Amber Alert’ in 2000, which has sense help bring home over 1,000 missing or abducted children nationwide.

Photo from: UnbelievableFacts