Elizabeth Smart

[deleted]

Karlee,

I am also from Utah, but I must disagree. This is AMBER's story, not Elizabeth's. The spotlight for this movie must shine on her, not another victim. Elizabeth's story has been told, in books and at least one movie, and it did talk about the alert there. This is no disrepect to Elizabeth in any way. This movie is for Amber.

Last Movie seen: Hairspry
Last DVD Purchased: Zodiac
Fav Movie this year: Grindhouse

On January 13, 1996, nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas. A neighbor who witnessed the abduction called police, and Hagerman's brother Ricky went home to tell his mother and grandparents what had happened. On hearing the news, Hagerman's father Richard called Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly had been abducted and murdered in 1993.

Richard Hagerman and Amber's mother Donna Whitson called the news media and the FBI. The Whitsons and their neighbors began searching for Amber. Four days after the abduction, a man walking his dog found Hagerman's body in a storm drainage ditch. Her parents soon established People Against Sex Offenders (P.A.S.O.). They collected signatures hoping to force the Texas Legislature into passing more stringent laws to protect children.

God's Place International Church soon donated office space for the organization, and as the search for Hagerman's killer continued P.A.S.O. received almost-daily coverage in local media. Companies donated various office supplies, including computer and internet service. Local Congressman Martin Frost, with the help of Marc Klaas, drafted the Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act. President Bill Clinton signed it into law in October 1996.

In July 1996, Bruce Seybert and Richard Hagerman attended a Media Symposium in Arlington. Although Richard had remarks prepared, on the day of the event the organizers asked Seybert to speak instead. In his 20-minute speech, he spoke about efforts that local police could take quickly to help find missing children and how the media could facilitate those efforts. A reporter from radio station KRLD approached the Dallas Police Chief shortly afterward with Seybert's ideas. This launched the Amber Alert.

For the next two years, alerts were made manually to participating radio stations. In 1998, the Child Alert Foundation created the first fully automated Alert Notification System (ANS) to notify surrounding communities when a child was reported missing or abducted. Alerts were sent to radio stations as originally requested but included television stations, surrounding law enforcement agencies, newspapers and local support organizations. These alerts were sent all at once via pagers, faxes, emails, and cell phones with the information immediately posted on the Internet for the general public to view.

Following the automation of the Amber Alert with ANS technology created by the Child Alert Foundation, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 2002 expanded its role to promote the Amber Alert and has worked aggressively to see alerts distributed using the nation's existing emergency radio and TV response network.

In October 2001, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children launched a campaign to have Amber Alert systems established nationwide. In February 2002, the Federal Communications Commission officially endorsed the system. In 2002, several children were abducted in cases that drew national attention. One such case, the kidnapping and murder of Samantha Runnion, prompted California to establish an Amber Alert system on July 24, 2002. According to Senator Dianne Feinstein, in its first month California issued 13 Amber alerts; 12 of the children were recovered safely and the remaining alert was found to be a misunderstanding.

By September 2002, 26 states had established Amber Alert systems that covered all or parts of the state. A bipartisan group of over 20 US Senators, led by Kay Bailey Hutchison and Dianne Feinstein, proposed legislation to name an Amber alert coordinator in the U.S. Justice Department who could help coordinate state efforts. The bill also provided $25 million in federal matching grants for states to establish Amber alert programs and necessary purchase equipment, such as electronic highway signs. A similar bill was sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by Jennifer Dunn and Martin Frost. The bill passed the Senate unanimously within a week of its proposal. The bill passed the House several weeks later on a 390–24 vote. At an October 2002 conference on missing, exploited, and runaway children, President George W. Bush announced improvements to the Amber Alert system, including the development of a national standard for issuing Amber Alerts.

The alerts were offered digitally beginning in November 2002, when America Online began a service allowing people sign up to receive notification via computer, pager, or cell phone. Users of the service enter their zip codes, allowing the alerts to be targeted to specific geographic regions. And THAT's the rest of the story...

Well considering Amber was killed in 1996 and Elizabeth wasn't taken until 2002, why would she be included anywhere in this movie? It's about Amber and the invention of the AMBER Alert.