Amber Hagerman (November 25, 1986 - January 17, 1996) was a young girl who was the victim of a kidnapping, rape and murder. She was abducted while riding her bicycle in her neighborhood in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas in broad daylight and in full view of witnesses. Four days later, following an extensive, area-wide search, her naked body was found with her throat slit at the bottom of a creek bed. The suspect of her murder has never been found.

Following her death, the AMBER Alert was formed in the Dallas area (other locales now also have similar plans) in July 1997. The system is used by local citizens who work with radio stations and local law enforcement to broadcast news bulletins about abducted children to the general public, in an effort to save children's lives. In October 2000, the United States House of Representatives adopted H.R. 605 which encouraged communities nationwide to implement the AMBER Plan.