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Amber Hagerman

In January 1996, nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was riding her bicycle on a warm Saturday
afternoon when a neighbor heard the girl scream. The neighbor saw a man pull Amber off her
bike at the closed-down Winn Dixie Store,which is located in texas, throw her into the front
seat of his pickup truck, and drive away at high speed. The neighbor called Arlington, Texas
police, and Amber's brother Ricky went home to tell his mother and grandparents what had
happened.
Donna Whitson, Amber's mother, called Amber's father Richard Hagerman at work, who
rushed home. Richard Hagerman had seen Marc Klaas, Polly Klaas's father, on TV and
contacted him, asking what to do, since Marc Klaas had experienced the same thing when
Polly was abducted from her slumber party in California and then murdered by Richard Allen
Davis, a convicted sex offender who was on parole.
At that time, Richard and Donna called the news media and the FBI. The Whitsons and their
neighbors began searching for Amber.
During this time, neighbors and citizens of Arlington, Texas and all over the Dallas, Fort
Worth Metroplex and Texas started a shrine at the abandoned Winn Dixie store near the
loading dock where Amber Hagerman had been abducted. Four days later, a man walking his
dog found her body in a storm drainage ditch. At that time, peoples' hearts fell out. The
community mourned and questions turned to anger after the autopsy showed 9-year-old
Amber Hagerman had been sexually assaulted, then murdered. At this, Donna and Richard
Amber's parents started the Organization P.A.S.O., People Against Sex Offenders, Amber
Hagerman.
During this time, President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton called to express their
feelings of sorrow and loss to Donna and Richard. They gave them the phone number to the
Chief of Staff, and were assured if they called the President, their call would be returned
within 24 hours! During this time, Governor George Bush Jr.'s office contacted us and
conveyed that the Governor felt Texas had tough enough laws and all they needed was better
enforcement. God's Place International Church then came forward after seeing us on the news
working out of my pickup truck, and donated office space for us to use!
Amber Hagerman's killer has still not been caught. John Douglas, the founder of the FBI
Profile unit, profiled her case for Donna and Richard. He says since this man got away with it,
at some point he will kill again.

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