AMBER HAGERMAN WALL MURAL PROJECT
Donation protected
Most people have experienced the feeling of hearing an alarm sound, and looked down at their mobile device to see an Amber Alert. But most don't know the harrowing story behind what is now an all-too familiar call for help.
On the afternoon of January 13, 1996, Amber Hagerman, 9, and her five-year-old brother, Ricky, pedaled their bicycles to an abandoned grocery store in Arlington, Texas. Minutes later, Ricky turned to head back home, about a block away.
Jim Kevil, a 78-year-old retiree, stood in his backyard not far away. “I saw [Amber] riding up and down,” he said later. “She was by herself. I saw this pickup. He pulled up, jumped out and grabbed her. When she screamed, I figured the police ought to know about it, so I called them.”
Kevil described the truck as being dark, possibly black. The abductor was white or Hispanic.
Police arrived within a minute or two. By that time, Jimmie Whitson, Amber’s grandfather, was on his way to the locale of the former Winn-Dixie store to check on her. (When Ricky had arrived back home without Amber, Whitson had grown worried.) By the time he arrived, cops were there.
Experts say that stranger abductions are rare. They are also among the most difficult cases to solve. Even with an eyewitness, investigators were stymied. They theorized that it was a crime of opportunity, that the kidnapper saw Amber alone and impulsively decided to snatch her. The vacant lot where children liked to play was on East Abram Street, not far from a huge General Motors plant. From the beginning, cops felt that the abductor was almost certainly familiar with the area.
Local police were joined by volunteers and the FBI in the massive search that followed. A truck similar to that of the kidnapper had been spotted outside a nearby laundromat before Amber was taken, but investigators never located the vehicle.
Four days later, a man was walking his dog near the Forest Hill Apartments, just a few miles from where the child had been snatched. At the bottom of a creek bed, he saw a child’s body. Amber Hagerman had been found.
An AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency (SAME code: CAE) is a child abduction alert system. It originated in the United States in 1996. AMBER is officially a backronym for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, but was named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas.
My name is Eddie Patch Chapa, and in 2013,I started a mural on a wall at the site where Amber was abducted from. A variety of circumstances prevented me from finishin the mural as I had planned. I vowed to Amber's mom, that I would return and finish the mural. I have gotten some artist friends of mine together and we are now in the position to go and redo the whole wall and mural, this time we are addin' a portrait of Amber. We are just in need of funds to get the project completed so I'm reachin' out to the public, family, and friends, to come together to get it done. I pray no-one has to ever need the Amber Alert, but in reality you never know. Because of Amber, 700+ kids have been saved usin' the Amber Alert so this young lady didn't die in vain. I'm in need of volunteers also to help keep the site maintained and I'm gonna be hookin'up with some local businesses to make sure, Amber is never forgotten. So I ask to please help us out in any way possible. May God bless you in return and if any questions, yo can feel free to contact me @ [phone redacted]. We don't want to let Amber's mom know about this project till it is completed and we will have news crews on hand to film her reaction when we unveil the wall to her. Once again God bless and thank you in advance.......Eddie "Patch" Chapa
On the afternoon of January 13, 1996, Amber Hagerman, 9, and her five-year-old brother, Ricky, pedaled their bicycles to an abandoned grocery store in Arlington, Texas. Minutes later, Ricky turned to head back home, about a block away.
Jim Kevil, a 78-year-old retiree, stood in his backyard not far away. “I saw [Amber] riding up and down,” he said later. “She was by herself. I saw this pickup. He pulled up, jumped out and grabbed her. When she screamed, I figured the police ought to know about it, so I called them.”
Kevil described the truck as being dark, possibly black. The abductor was white or Hispanic.
Police arrived within a minute or two. By that time, Jimmie Whitson, Amber’s grandfather, was on his way to the locale of the former Winn-Dixie store to check on her. (When Ricky had arrived back home without Amber, Whitson had grown worried.) By the time he arrived, cops were there.
Experts say that stranger abductions are rare. They are also among the most difficult cases to solve. Even with an eyewitness, investigators were stymied. They theorized that it was a crime of opportunity, that the kidnapper saw Amber alone and impulsively decided to snatch her. The vacant lot where children liked to play was on East Abram Street, not far from a huge General Motors plant. From the beginning, cops felt that the abductor was almost certainly familiar with the area.
Local police were joined by volunteers and the FBI in the massive search that followed. A truck similar to that of the kidnapper had been spotted outside a nearby laundromat before Amber was taken, but investigators never located the vehicle.
Four days later, a man was walking his dog near the Forest Hill Apartments, just a few miles from where the child had been snatched. At the bottom of a creek bed, he saw a child’s body. Amber Hagerman had been found.
An AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency (SAME code: CAE) is a child abduction alert system. It originated in the United States in 1996. AMBER is officially a backronym for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, but was named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas.
My name is Eddie Patch Chapa, and in 2013,I started a mural on a wall at the site where Amber was abducted from. A variety of circumstances prevented me from finishin the mural as I had planned. I vowed to Amber's mom, that I would return and finish the mural. I have gotten some artist friends of mine together and we are now in the position to go and redo the whole wall and mural, this time we are addin' a portrait of Amber. We are just in need of funds to get the project completed so I'm reachin' out to the public, family, and friends, to come together to get it done. I pray no-one has to ever need the Amber Alert, but in reality you never know. Because of Amber, 700+ kids have been saved usin' the Amber Alert so this young lady didn't die in vain. I'm in need of volunteers also to help keep the site maintained and I'm gonna be hookin'up with some local businesses to make sure, Amber is never forgotten. So I ask to please help us out in any way possible. May God bless you in return and if any questions, yo can feel free to contact me @ [phone redacted]. We don't want to let Amber's mom know about this project till it is completed and we will have news crews on hand to film her reaction when we unveil the wall to her. Once again God bless and thank you in advance.......Eddie "Patch" Chapa
Organizer
Eddie Patch Chapa
Organizer
Grand Prairie, TX