When 9-year-old Amber Hagerman went missing in Arlington, Texas, on January 13, 1996, the entire community joined together to bring her home. Although her story ended in tragedy, it inspired Diana Simone to contact a local radio station about broadcasting alerts on radio and TV when a child is abducted. On January 27, 1996, Simone put her thoughts into writing and that letter became the inspiration for the AMBER Alert.
As we near the 20th anniversary of that letter, the AMBER Alert program has spread around the world. In the U.S., nearly 800 children have been safely recovered after an AMBER Alert was issued. Instead of taking credit for the program, Simone asked that the alert be named after Amber Hagerman.