Austin Post

news

Amber Hagerman case: 30 years later, the legacy of the Amber Alert

30 years after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted and killed in Texas, the Amber Alert system created in her name continues to help recover missing children.

Published January 13, 2026 at 7:35pm by Katey Psencik

Amber Hagerman was abducted on Jan. 13, 1996. Her body was found four days later in a nearby creek. The murder is still unsolved.

Tuesday marks 30 years since Texas 9-year-old Amber Hagerman disappeared while riding her bicycle in Arlington — a crime that not only devastated her family and community, but ultimately changed how missing children are searched for across the country.

Hagerman was found dead four days after her disappearance in January 1996. Her murder remains unsolved. In the aftermath of her case, however, the AMBER Alert system was created, giving law enforcement a powerful tool to quickly notify the public when a child is believed to have been abducted. Jan. 13 is now recognized as National AMBER Alert Day. As of December 2025, 1,292 missing children have been safely recovered as a direct result of AMBER Alerts issued nationwide.

What happened to Amber Hagerman?

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Hagerman was abducted just eight minutes after leaving her home with her brother on the afternoon of Jan. 13, 1996. A man — described as either white or Hispanic and estimated to be in his 20s or 30s — grabbed the 9-year-old off her bike in the parking lot of an abandoned Winn-Dixie. Police believe the man kept Hagerman alive for at least two days before killing her and dumping her body in a creek behind an apartment complex.

A man who lived by the Winn-Dixie witnessed the abduction, according to NCMEC. He told investigators he saw and heard Hagerman kicking and screaming as the man put her in his black single-cab pickup truck. He described the man as less than six feet tall with brown or black hair and a medium build.

Police later recovered Hagerman's bicycle from the parking lot. A man walking his dog found her body four days after her abduction.

How was the AMBER Alert System created?

According to NCMEC, after hearing Hagerman's story on the news, Arlington resident Diane Simone called a Dallas-Fort Worth radio station with the idea to create alerts for abducted children, similar to weather alerts. From that idea, the AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert System bloomed.

The program began in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and was expanded statewide in 2002 by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Now, the program is used nationwide as well as in 27 other countries.

Are there still active AMBER Alerts in Texas?

As of this week, eight AMBER Alert cases remain active in Texas, according to NCMEC.

Jan 13, 2026