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Today Marks 18th Anniversary Of Kidnapping Of Amber Hagerman, Whose Death Inspired AMBER Alerts

Wikipedia

Texas Department of Public Safety officials are joining law enforcement around the nation in observing National AMBER Alert Awareness day.

Today is the 18th anniversary of the kidnapping of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman. She was riding her bike in a parking lot in Arlington. She was killed. Her body was later found in a drainage ditch.

The AMBER alert, which stands for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response," was created by Dallas-Fort Worth area law enforcement and media representatives in the fall of 1996.

Since then, every state has adopted the program. Gov. Rick Perry established the Texas AMBER Alert in 2002, complementing existing programs already in place.

From its inception, the Texas AMBER Alert program has been activated by the Department of Public Safety 109 times and has helped recover 124 children.

DPS says that should a child go missing, the public should immediately call the authorities and provide them with a recent photo of the child.

Learn more about the AMBER Alert here.