[loveneverdies]

On January 13, 1996 nine year old Amber Hagerman was riding her bike blocks away from her home, at the site of a former Winn-Dixie, when she was kidnapped. It took police about two minutes to respond after a witness called to report a man in a black pickup truck jumped out, grabbed a girl and hauled her away screaming.

"They were riding their bikes like they always did, and were supposed to just go around the block," Norris said. "Amber decided she wanted to go a little further than where she was supposed to because there was a ramp where children would go."

"Eight minutes later and she was gone."

Amber grew up in Arlington, Texas with her mother (Donna Norris), grandparents and brother Ricky, who accompanied her that day on the bike ride, but minutes before she was abducted Ricky turned around to go back home.

The grandfather was confused and concerned when Ricky showed up at home without his older sister. He went looking for his granddaughter, only to come across the scene at the loading docks of the old Winn-Dixie, with Amber’s bike lying on the ground and the police beginning their investigation.

Her body was found 4 days later on January 17, 1996: naked except for one sock, in a drainage ditch (some say creek) just a few miles away from where she was last seen. Her throat had been slashed. 20 years later and her killer has never been found.

The waterway where Amber was found washed away any hope of DNA or biological evidence that could have been used to trace her killer. And although a witness saw the abduction, his description of a truck “as being dark, possibly black” and the abductor as a “white or Hispanic” male, didn’t give police much to go on when searching for a suspect.

The autopsy found that Amber was alive for at least two days prior to being killed. And reports vary, but most believe she had been sexually assaulted within that time.

Although 20 years have passed, police are still desperately searching for closure for Amber Hagerman and her family. Thousands of tips have been reported (most notably, in 2011 – a child pornography cache was found in Ennis, TX and had links to a man that was in Arlington, TX at the time of her disappearance) but nothing has come to fruition from any of them.

A psychological profile was issued by police a few weeks after the murder. It was generic at best. The killer was at least 25; lived or worked near the scene of the crime; and since Amber was alive for two days after she was kidnapped, the killer had to have had some place to keep the child. “Something probably caused him to snap, police said.”

Amber’s abduction formed the basis for the current “AMBER Alert” system that we have today. Many wonder if it was around at the time of her disappearance whether the suspect would have gotten away with her kidnapping, never mind the atrocious murder of the nine year old girl.

Side Note: There aren't a lot of pictures available to put with the story, but the ones found below include a picture of Amber, and the location of where she was last seen on January 13, 1996 (which is also currently a memorial).

Plenty of information to be found on the web though:
http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/crime...8/11/13694414/

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/19/us...-is-found.html

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/1...till-unsolved/

http://abcnews.go.com/US/amber-hager...ory?id=9544038

[kellyhound]

Wonder if they found dna on her and if they did hope new techniques can unravel more of who did this so the perp, when still alive, can be beaten to death in jail.

[MeMyselfandI]

Aww I remember Winn-Dixies.

Crazy...I always wondered how the Amber Alert came about...sickening

[Pyramid_Head]

So sad, I hope Amber gets justice someday.

[AussieAngel]

Hoping this young girls killer is caught someday. Tragic that her death has probably saved so many others with the initiation of the Amber alert system. RIP Angel

[gringo1965]

There alot of sick fucking Mexicans down there. Most are illegal. It's bad down there. Mexicans are worse than Haitians. You could NUKE Mexico, and I am sure God would be happy about it.

[DeeMarieGK]

This one upsets me so much. She was held and tortured for days and he had to live close because the kidnap and dump site were so close together.

[DeeMarieGK]

Originally Posted by Pyramid_Head ↗

So sad, I hope Amber gets justice someday.

Sadly the eyewitness was too far away to get a good look plus it took place in seconds....
Maybe familial dna will find out who.....
but her death prompted a nationwide system to alert everyone about abductions so her death wasn't in vain.

[Panda22]

with the increased interest in familial dna i'm hoping this case is solved one day.

[Dusti_]

Originally Posted by gringo1965 ↗

There alot of sick fucking Mexicans down there. Most are illegal. It's bad down there. Mexicans are worse than Haitians. You could NUKE Mexico, and I am sure God would be happy about it.

Fuckin' A,no one wants to hear that.but it's just the truth...