How did Amber Alerts get their start?

Everyone is familiar with the high-pitched screech that occasionally emits from cell phones, always paired with an alarming message that one of society’s most vulnerable has been taken. The notification is attention-getting, it’s a call to action, it’s an Amber Alert. While everyone may be familiar with what it is, not many people know how it came about. AMBER is actually an acronym that stands for Amerca’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, but while it is an acronym, the acronym itself actually came from a name. The name and creation of Amber Alerts has a story all its own, and while it may not have a happy ending, it is truly an example of triumph over tragedy. Here is how Amber Alerts came to be and earned a well-deserved place as part of our lives and society.

Before Amber Alerts there was no solid system in place to locate a missing child. Local law enforcement found roadblocks reaching outside of their states and even towns to get the word out. FBI involvement was limited at best. Pictures and flyers were sent out but often by that time, the child was usually well beyond city and state lines. Also despite FBI research showing most abducted children (around 75%) are harmed or killed within the first few hours following an abduction, some states even had a 24-hour time-lapse requirement before filing a report, meaning a full 24 hours had to elapse before law enforcement could even get involved! To say the system was ineffective was an understatement. Little awareness was really brought to this issue until the disappearance of Adam Walsh.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Adam Walsh is the son of John Walsh, whom you probably recognize as the host of the popular show America’s Most Wanted. Adam Walsh disappeared from a local mall in Hollywood, Florida, when he was just six years old. His parents jumped into action but found roadblock after roadblock in getting the message out about their missing son. Adam was found two weeks later, murdered. The Walsh family would never be the same. John Walsh was introduced to the dark underbelly of society, one he never knew even existed. Walsh decided to do something about it, raising awareness, becoming active in politics, and changing laws and outdated systems around child safety and welfare. In 1984 the Missing Children’s Assistance Act gave the FBI a greater ability to help with missing children investigations and allowed for the creation of the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children. Yet, it still wasn’t enough, not enough children were being safely recovered, and the word of their disappearances was getting out too late.

The Case of Amber Hagerman

Then in 1996, a nine-year-old girl in Texas named Amber Haggerman disappeared from near her grandparents’ suburban neighborhood while out on a bike ride. Despite having an eyewitness to the abduction and the make and model of the vehicle the abductor was driving, her body was found four days later, and her murder was never solved. The case brought attention to the need for a nationwide alert system. Shortly thereafter a Dallas woman named Diane Simone called several Texas radio stations to see if they could get the word out on missing children. Soon, the DFW area developed its own radio alert system naming it after young Amber. Then, Amber’s mother Donna Williams teamed up with John Walsh and the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, and the child abduction emergency alert known as Amber Alerts began being used in almost every state. Now the system is used regularly to alert all law enforcement personnel, TV broadcasts, news media outlets, radio stations, and of course individual cell phones to the fact there is a missing child. The system has been massively successful, saving hundreds of children’s lives, and is always developing new and strategic methods of expansion. All of this grew from the legacy of one little girl.

While the alert is well known, the back story is less so. Although Peacock streaming service does feature a documentary on the story titled Amber: The Girl Behind the Alert which shows the family’s harrowing journey through the kidnapping and subsequent development of the system. Lifetime also developed a made for TV movie about Amber in 2006 titled Amber’s Story. The alerts also got a special shoutout when they disrupted the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trials, but that’s a story all its own.

One little girl’s legacy is responsible for saving hundreds of children’s lives. It is a living tribute to a child whose story could have turned out very differently if the very system created in her name, had existed for her. While it may have been too late for Amber, her mother Donna worked tirelessly to make sure it wasn’t too late for any other children. So the next time your phone screeches at you in the wee hours of the morning, you will know the story behind the alert and remember the lost little girl who is bringing your attention to a cause most worthy of it.