Hey y'all!
We're kicking off this first post with no other than Arlington's little Angel. As in Arlington, TX.
Is I was born, and lived in Arlington the majority of my life I thought I would kick this blog off with one from my hometown that hits the heart and feelings on a whole different level.
My childhood home was mins away from the grandparents home.
Arlington's little Angel is no other than the little Angel, Amber Rene Hagerman. Born November 25, 1996 in Arlington, TX to Richard and Donna was kidnapped and murdered. She was abducted in the old Winn Dixie parking lot while riding her bike on January 13, 1996 around 3 pm. 78 year old Navy and Sherif Veteran neighbor Jimmie Kevil (he is the only witness that came forward all of these years. He passed away in 2016) witnessed the crime take place through his chain link fence in his backyard that was just caddy cornered from the parking lot called the Arlington Police Department and reported the crime to the local authorities. Stating, he saw her riding her bike when a 20's or 30's year old medium build white or hispanic male standing under 6 ft tall with brown or black hair. pulled up, jumped out of his 1980's or 90's model single cab black no chrome or striping good condition pick up truck (that earlier was seen parked at the laundry mat within the same parking lot) and grabbed her. She began screaming and kicking when he opened his passenger side truck door and threw her into the truck, and took off going West on Abram Street, towards the center of Arlington. Away from the nearby 360 Highway. By this time her little brother who started off riding his bike with her in the parking lot decided to go back to their grandparents house so he did not get into trouble for disobeying the rules of staying close to the house on their street, had already gone back with their grandfather only to find Amber's pink bike with no Amber in sight. When APD arrived on scene the family and community members were already were already frantically searching for Amber, the officers joining in to search for the little girl. 4 days after her abduction just 4 miles away from her abduction site/grandparents home, near 12 midnight a man walking his dog discovered Amber's body in a creek/drainage culvert behind the Forest Hill Apartments. She was undressed, only wearing a single sock, had bruises all over. Including a slit throat. Maintenance workers of the complex were near the creek where Amber's body was discovered just hours later.
*Side note/questions, so this "random finding seems a little suspicious to me. Who walks their dog at midnight in the middle of winter in TX? AND how exactly was this man able to see a child's body in a creek bed with drainage as he stated when he called local authorities? Who allows their small children to ride their bikes so late in the afternoon when it gets dark earlier in Texas during winter months without adult supervision.*
The Arlington Police Departments investigating officers believe that Amber was kept Alive for 2 days being beaten and sexually assaulted before the killer killed her and disposed of her body. They also believe that she was not dumped at the site she was found, they believe she was carried by the creeks current from all the rain fall the day and night the man came across her body.
To this day, it has been 27 years and the murder has yet to be solved.
In Oct. 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act, which, according to the Texas State Historical Associate, “expanded federal court jurisdiction over repeat child sex offenders and mandated life in prison for those convicted of a second sexual offense against a child.”
Authorities have also disclosed for the first time that they have DNA evidence in the case. As new DNA technology, including genetic genealogy, increasingly helps law enforcement tie open cases to long-unidentified suspects, Arlington investigators find themselves with renewed hope.
Detective Grant Gildon, the lead investigator on the cold case, declined to tell what physical evidence the department has in the case, citing it as information only Amber’s killer would be aware of. That evidence has been secured and maintained for the past 25 years with the hope that it could someday provide a vital lead. He said at last week’s news conference that the evidence would be submitted later this year for testing. This statement was made on January 22, 2021, no other information or updates have been made since then.
-- At one point, I have read in a separate article with mom that there were cameras following the family months leading up to the abduction and death. --
*Side notes/questions- So, there has been DNA evidence that the APD has just been SITTING on FOR 27 YEARS! Why would you wait that long before sending into a lab? Stating due to DNA testing not being back then what it is today, it was STILL BETTER than it was in the 90's 10 years ago! And, why have you yet to make any updates since? It has been 2 years since the statement was announced. Unless, someone is attempting to buy time... It boggles my mind that of all the articles I have read, documents seen, and other research performed regarding this case that there was frankly a TON of information given at the time of the neighbors call. A lot more than most murder cases receive that have ended with the capture and justice thrown at the killer.... There are so many different aspects of this case that I just have not been able to wrap my mind around. *
On Jan. 20, Amber's body was laid to rest at the First United Methodist Church in Arlington, her blue casket surrounded by pink floral displays. She was buried in a pink satin dress with her arms cuddling a teddy bear.
Thousands of mourners overflowed the church as Amber was eulogized as "a child of the nation," with Rev. Ann Stevens saying Amber was "survived by a nation stunned and saddened and enraged that once again such unspeakable and fiendish evil has stricken one of our children."
Please comment your thoughts, ideas, investigative processing senecios I want to see your POV!
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