Skip to main content

For Find Out Friday Week 36- Who was Amber Behind the Life-Saving Alert?


When someone can take a tragedy and turn it into a cause that saves other lives, I feel like that is the ultimate height of the human condition. 

For instance John Walsh took the kidnapping and murder of his six year old son Adam in 1981 and created “The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children” in 1984, which has subsequently changed the way these crimes are tracked and how those involved find justice. Walsh also hosted “America’s Most Wanted” that hunted down the FBI’s most notoriously dangerous criminals. Talk about taking your pain and acting on it.

Another brave parent was Donna Norris, mother of Amber Hagerman, who was just nine years old she went out for a neighborhood bike ride on January 13, 1996, and never returned. Amber’s body was found four days later. To this day the murderer has not been caught.

At the time of Amber’s disappearance there was no notification system in place which Donna believes might have been able to save her daughter. If there had been a fast, effective way to notify police, the media, and the community about Amber having gone missing and what the vehicle and man who took her looked like things could have well ended differently. 

I learned most of these details from a powerful movie I saw on the Lifetime Television Network. It was called “Amber’s Story” and debuted on September 4, 2006 staring Elisabeth Rohm (of Law and Order fame) as Donna Norris. This movie captures the agony of delayed information and how different life is like for the parents who kids went missing, not so long ago. 

What remains burned in my brain still is how a devastated Donna screams that there is a system to notify us about dangerous weather approaching but not dangerous people. It is sad how many tragedies must take place for real change to form.

The Amber Alert was first established in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. Amber Hagerman was from Arlington, Texas, which is nearly the same jurisdiction.

While each state has its own criteria for issuing an Amber Alert (a.k.a. Child Abduction Emergency), the Department of Justice recommends:

  • Law enforcement must confirm that an abduction has taken place.
  • The child must be at risk of serious injury or death.
  • There must be sufficient descriptive information of child, captor, or captor's vehicle to issue an alert.
  • The child must be under 18 years of age.

In the twenty-one years since the Amber Alert was created it is estimated that over  eight hundred children have been saved as a direct result.

So the next time your phone buzzes with an alert please pay close attention as you could be the hero in one family's story. And less we not forget that family which paved the way.

Here is hoping Amber and her loved ones find the justice and peace they so deserve very soon.

For More Information:











Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

For Find Out Friday - Why Do Emery Boards Make My Skin Crawl?

You know that sound a fingernail makes when it scratches against a chalkboard?  You know that feeling the sound of that action gives you? I, like most people, hate that sound.  I instantly feel like scrunching my shoulders up to my neck and closing my eyes.  I feel the exact same way when I am using an emery board to file my nails. This annoying sensation has a name: “grima” which is Spanish for disgust or uneasiness. This term basically describes any feeling of being displeased, annoyed, or dissatisfied someone or something.  It is a feeling that psychologists are starting to pay more attention to as it relates to our other emotions.  Emery boards are traditionally made with cardboard that has small grains of sand adhered to them. It is the sandpaper that I believe makes me filled with grima.  According to studies that are being done around the world, it is not just the feeling that we associate with certain things like nails on a chalkb...
Post a Comment
Read more

For Find Out Friday - Why is One Foot More Ticklish Than the Other?

As I sit here typing I can’t seem to stop thinking about my nails. Mainly that they REALLY need to get done. They are starting to chip and become unruly. As soon I as think about making an appointment my mind immediately returns to this question: “which of my feet will be ticklish this time?” Because I am a girl that needs her fingernails and toenails to match, I always get a pedicure whenever I get my nails done. And while this should be an activity I enjoy, it often feels like a chore, despite my going only once every three to four weeks. I know; #firstworldproblems.  Anyway, each and every time I get my toes done, as soon as they are done soaking in the bubbly water I wonder, which of my feet will be ticklish today?  Without fail one of them always seems to get the brunt of it and suddenly what was supposed to be a relaxing activity has made me all tense. So, is there a scientific reason for this?  According to most research, yes. While the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

For a New Chain of Mexican Fast Food: “Dos Toros Taqueria”

When it comes to fast food there are the names we are familiar with: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Chipotle.  In you live in New York City, there is a new kid in town: Dos Toros.  Dos Toros is relatively new to this area but with any hope there might be one in your town soon.  Started by two brothers, Leo and Oliver Kremer, from Berkeley, California, the Mexican food you find here is inspired by food they loved growing up.  In California, the brothers grew up worshipping Gordo Taqueria, a favorite of Bay Area residents since 1977 (now promptly added to my San Francisco to eat list). Much of the recipes and even decor found at Dos Toros has been modeled on Gordo. Before moving to NYC in 2008, the brothers were living very different lives. Leo was the bassist for the band “Third Eye Blind”. Oliver fresh out of college, considered working in the technology or finance industry. Both disillusioned with their lives, they decided to pursue so...
Post a Comment
Read more