Detectives say the AMBER Alert training they received played a pivotal role in making an arrest in an Oregon child homicide case that happened nearly 14 years ago. The Jackson County, Oregon, Sheriff's Office arrested William Frank Simmons on April 7, 2010, for the November 1996 murder of Kaelin Rose Glazier.

Simmons was indicted by a Grand Jury and arrested exactly 2 years after Glazier's remains were found 78 feet from Simmons' home. Once the skeletal remains were found, detectives said they relied on the AMBER Alert training they had just received from the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) through Fox Valley Technical College.

"We are passionate about AMBER Alert training," said Det. Sgt. Colin Fagan, Jackson County Sheriff's Office. "When we found her remains, we had a better idea of what we needed to do to move the case forward. We knew we had one opportunity to get this right and the AMBER Alert training gave us the awareness and the tools to take the case to the Grand Jury and make an arrest."

Fagan had attended training on how to develop a Child Abduction Response Team (CART) when he saw an age-progressed picture of Kaelin Glazier. The course also included a case study presentation by Sergeant Mark Simpson (Retired) about his investigation into the 1996 abduction and murder of Amber Hagerman, the 9-year-old whose death prompted the creation of the AMBER Alert program.

Fagan and a colleague were impressed by the quality of the training and soon the sheriff's office was sending their detectives and crime analysts to every AMBER Alert course on missing and abducted children offered by the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office is also changing its policies and procedures for missing and abducted children.

"The Jackson County Sheriff's Office should be commended for taking what they learned and bringing closure to a tragic murder," said Simpson, "It clearly demonstrates that the effort we put into training is extremely worthwhile."

The Jackson County Sheriff's Department also asked Simpson for advice to help with its newly ramped up investigation into Glazier's death. Simpson was given complete access to the case files so he could train other detectives about lessons learned during the investigation. "We consider Mark a member of the team and we consulted with him to draw from his deep well of experience," said Fagan.

The teamwork paid off when detectives finally had enough evidence to present their findings to the Grand Jury. "They put a lot of effort and sweat equity into the investigation," added Simpson. "I'm proud to have had this unique opportunity to work with these detectives and be associated with them."