The Abduction and Brutal Slaying of Amber Hagerman

The True Crime Times
7 min readApr 4, 2020
Source: The Portal to Texas History

Nothing startles you out of a deep sleep quite like receiving an Amber Alert on your phone. The alerts can be frightening and disruptive, but they have saved hundreds of lives.

The sad reality of the world we live in is that the best and biggest societal changes are often the result of a tragedy. Leaders and lawmakers may have the foresight to recognize that certain systems need to be improved, but it takes a calamity before someone takes action.

Americans are occasionally disturbed by Amber Alerts on their phones because of the abduction and murder of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman. The little girl did not die in vain, but it’s a shame that it took such a heartwrenching loss to enact such important changes to the way law enforcement and the public responds to the snatching of innocents.

Gone in Minutes

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

It was January 13, 1996, in Arlington, Texas. In other places of the country, youngsters were bundled up playing in the snow, but a Texas winter is typically a warm winter. [1]

That day, Amber Hagerman, 9, and her brother, Ricky, 5, along with their mother, Donna Hagerman, were in…

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The True Crime Times

My name is Julie Fidler. I’m a writer, author, wife, and animal lover. I shed light on unsolved mysteries and shocking crimes.