Amber Alert ////// Part 1

Summary

True Crime Garage: Amber Alert ////// Part 1

Release Date: January 15, 2025
Hosts: Nic and the Captain

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Introduction and Setting the Scene (00:00 - 05:04)

The episode begins with Nick and the Captain welcoming listeners to "True Crime Garage," inviting them to relax with a beer while delving into true crime cases. They offer shout-outs to their community members and express gratitude towards their supporters.

Nick: "Grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime."
(00:40)

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Amber Hagerman's Abduction: Initial Reports and Family Impact (03:07 - 08:09)

The discussion shifts to the harrowing case of Amber Renee Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl abducted while riding her bike in Arlington, Texas, on January 13, 1996. The hosts relay a transcript from a news report detailing the incident, emphasizing the immediate and devastating impact on Amber's family.

Donna Whitson (Amber's Mother): "Don't hurt my baby. Please, bring her home safe."
(03:38)

Amber's abduction was witnessed by neighbors and led to a swift police response, but despite extensive searches and community efforts, Amber was never found. The family's anguish is palpable, highlighting the emotional toll such abductions have on loved ones.

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Background of Amber and Her Family (08:09 - 19:19)

Nick provides a comprehensive background on Amber Hagerman and her family. Born in 1986, Amber was a vibrant Girl Scout with a passion for biking. Her family, consisting of her mother Donna, father Richard, and younger brother Ricky, faced challenges, including Richard's struggles with alcoholism and domestic abuse, leading Donna to become the primary caregiver.

Nick: "Amber was raised in the greater Arlington, Texas area... a safe area, low crime, especially low violent crime."
(10:15)

The family's resilience is showcased as Donna worked tirelessly to provide for her children, balancing work, school, and caring for her sons.

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The Day of the Abduction: A Detailed Timeline (19:19 - 35:30)

The hosts dive deep into the events of January 13, 1996. Watching Amber and Ricky enjoy a typical Saturday, the family engaged in activities like visiting a local park, having lunch at Burger King, and spending time at Donna's parents' home.

Nick outlines their usual bike route, emphasizing its safety and familiarity:

Nick: "They knew which streets that they could turn down and which streets they couldn't go on."
(16:23)

However, that day, Amber decided to deviate slightly by riding her bike into a nearby vacant grocery store's parking lot, an area still within sight of her grandparents' home. This deviation occurred within an eight-minute window—a critical factor that significantly impeded the investigation.

Captain: "It was all happening in just an eight-minute time period."
(25:43)

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Witness Account and Police Response (35:30 - 46:40)

Jim Kevil, a 78-year-old Navy veteran and former sheriff's deputy, was the sole eyewitness. From his backyard separated by a chain-link fence, Kevil observed Amber's abduction:

Jim Kevil: "I saw Amber riding up and down. A black pickup pulled up, jumped out, and grabbed her when she screamed."
(34:57)

Despite his detailed description of the abductor and the truck, the investigation faced challenges:

• Vehicle Identification: The description of the black pickup truck matched numerous vehicles in Arlington, making it difficult to pinpoint the abductor based solely on this information.

• Lack of Additional Witnesses: Other patrons and workers in the parking lot's businesses (laundromat and auto tint shop) did not report additional sightings, limiting the scope of the investigation.

Nick: "His truck was a single cab pickup... solid black with no chrome or striping."
(37:59)

The rapid sequence of events—from Amber being spotted to the police's arrival in under three minutes—left little time to gather further evidence or witness statements.

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Analysis of the Abduction Dynamics (46:40 - 56:35)

Nic and the Captain analyze the psychology and methodology behind the abduction, emphasizing that the perpetrator likely did not know Amber. The abrupt and forceful nature of the act suggests a "snatch and grab" scenario rather than an abduction by someone familiar to the victim.

Nick: "This looks like a snatch and grab situation... the abductor probably didn't know Amber."
(50:16)

They discuss the abductor's choice of route post-abduction, questioning why he would head towards a busy area or the interstate, which could increase the chances of being caught. This decision remains one of the perplexing aspects of the case.

Captain: "There's no clear indication of whether he was heading to another neighborhood or out of town."
(47:31)

The hosts highlight the complexity of the investigation, noting the absence of Amber's bike initially and the immediate recognition by law enforcement that this was a stranger abduction, a relatively rare occurrence.

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Psychological Insights and Case Comparison (56:35 - 52:38)

Exploring the psychological impact on the family, Nic reflects on the unique horror of this case compared to others. Unlike typical missing person cases, Amber's abduction was witnessed, adding a layer of immediacy and terror.

Nick: "This is a story of every parent's worst nightmare."
(52:35)

The discussion touches upon similar cases, such as the Maura Murray case, drawing parallels in the swift disappearance after an eyewitness account. They emphasize the rarity and brutality of such stranger abductions, reinforcing the case's significance.

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Conclusion and Teasing Future Episodes (56:35 - End)

As the episode wraps up, Nick and the Captain express gratitude to their listeners and community supporters. They hint at continuing the exploration of Amber Hagerman's case in subsequent episodes, promising deeper insights and updates.

Captain: "Make sure you subscribe to the podcast. So much more to get to join us back here in the garage tomorrow."
(56:35)

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Notable Quotes

• Nick: "Amber was a third grade honors student with perfect attendance. A Girl Scout who just sold 165 boxes of cookies."
  (04:25)

• Donna Whitson: "I want my baby back. So please, if you have my baby, please, I beg you, let me have her back. She's my life."
  (07:45)

• Jim Kevil: "I saw Amber riding up and down. A black pickup pulled up, jumped out, and grabbed her when she screamed."
  (34:57)

• Nick: "This is a story of every parent's worst nightmare."
  (52:35)

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Key Takeaways

• Speed of Abduction: The entire abduction process occurred within an eight-minute window, complicating the investigation.

• Witness Reliability: Jim Kevil's detailed account provides crucial, yet limited, information, highlighting the challenges of relying on a single eyewitness.

• Community Impact: Amber's disappearance shook the Arlington community, a typically safe and low-crime area, underscoring the unpredictability of such crimes.

• Ongoing Mystery: Despite the detailed analysis, Amber Hagerman's case remains unsolved, continuing to inspire documentaries and in-depth investigations.

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Further Listening

For those intrigued by the depth and complexity of Amber Hagerman's case, stay tuned for subsequent episodes of "True Crime Garage," where Nic and the Captain will delve deeper into the investigation's progression, community responses, and any new leads that have emerged over the years.

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Note: The timestamps provided correspond to the transcript segments referenced for clarity and ease of navigation.

Transcript

[Captain]

SA.

[Nick]

Welcome to True crime Garage wherever you are, whatever you were doing. Thanks for listening. I'm your host, Nick. And with me, as always, is a man with a very important reminder that the garage is a rad place to jam out. Here is the captain.

[Captain]

Rock out with your out. It's good to be seen and good to see you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend.

[Nick]

Foreign this week we are very happy to be featuring Angels perch Amber by the fine hard working folks at Sockeye Brewing. This is a classic American amber ale. It's malty and toasty, but also smooth and a little light bodied. ABV 4.5 garage grade three and three quarter bottle caps out of five. And let's give some thanks and cheers and some praise and thank yous to our good garage friends that helped us fill up the garage fridge for this week's shows. First up, a long distance cheers to Eloy from Forta Lisa, Brazil. Eloy says you guys rock. And a happy new year to all of the true crime garage community.

[Captain]

And a big we like your jib goes out to Travis Griffin from Phoenix, New York.

[Nick]

Next up, here's a cheers to Reverend Karen in Minneapolis.

[Captain]

And a big cheers goes to Katie and Atlanta, Georgia.

[Nick]

And last but certainly not least, we have Deb in Hampton Roads, Virginia. She says she's a proud supporter of tcg. Well, we are very proud to have all of you who join us right here in the garage each and every week. Cheers to all of you listening tonight and cheers to everyone who has contributed to the beer fund.

[Captain]

Yeah, BWR beer run. If you need more True Crime Garage for your earballs, and you know you do, we just dove into the updates of the Amy Hooper case on off the Record and you can subscribe to that on Apple podcasts or through Patreon and Colonel that's enough of the business.

[Nick]

All right, everybody gather round. Grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime.

[Reporter]

Outside as the night grows colder, police and volunteers coordinate the search. Inside, Amber's mother waits.

[Donna Whitson]

I still can't believe it. Just waiting for her to come in the door. Any minute now, but she's gone.

[Reporter]

Whitson says Amber and her little brother Richard were out riding their bikes in the neighborhood when a witness saw a man grab Amber off her bike and shove her kicking and screaming into his black pickup truck.

[Witness]

Don't hurt her.

[Donna Whitson]

Don't hurt my baby.

[Nick]

Please.

[Donna Whitson]

She's just an innocent child. Please. Please bring her home safe. Please.

[Witness]

If anybody out there has seen anything, call the police. Tell them, let them.

[Donna Whitson]

I really don't know what I'm thinking now. I just want to touch her and hold her. Now to me, I think she's still out there riding her bike. But I know better. I know she's not.

[Reporter]

This is A Family Channel 8 has been working with since last fall on a story about welfare reform. Channel 8 was there at Amber's 9th birthday party in November. Whitson says Amber loves school. She's a third grade honors student with perfect attendance. A Girl Scout who just sold 165 boxes of cookies.

[Donna Whitson]

We're real close. We're buddies. We share everything. We share hair bows together. She's wearing my hair bow right now on her little hair. She's got her hair up. We share everything together. We do everything together.

[Reporter]

Whitson says before the kidnapping, they had a great day just playing at the park, eating lunch together and stopping by to visit the grandparents before the nightmare began.

[Donna Whitson]

Just Amber, you know I want you back home. I want you here with mommy. I know you're scared and I'm scared too. I'm scared for you and I want you home so I can hold you.

[Reporter]

Jimmy Kevil's backyard looks out on the Winn Dixie parking lot. He saw Amber Hagerman's abduction Saturday afternoon. Kevil says Amber was on her bike when a black pickup pulled up next.

[Witness]

To her and he run up behind her and grabbed her right under her arms and picked her up and he turned around and come right back to here where his truck was, where the door was open and put her in the truck.

[Reporter]

While police and volunteers continue to search, Amber's family holds on to hope.

[Donna Whitson]

Sit and wait, look out the window and wish we could see her walking up the driveway. There's a lot of people praying, family friends and I thank God for them.

[Reporter]

An Arlington police officer remains on the street where Amber Hagerman's family waits. A collection of flyers used in the search papers the front entry at Amber's grandmother's house. Still, there's no word. Earlier, investigators questioned the only witness again.

[Witness]

And he run up behind her and grabbed her right under her arms and picked her up. He turned around and come right back to here where his truck was, where the door was open and put her in the truck.

[Reporter]

While police and volunteers continue to search, Amber's family holds on to hope Set and wait.

[Donna Whitson]

Look out the window and wish we could see her walking up the driveway. There's a lot of people praying, family friends and I thank God for them.

[Reporter]

Amber, her little brother Richard and mother Donna Whitson. Are one of the families being profiled for a Family first special project about welfare. Amber is an honors student at C.B. berry Elementary. The school's principal was among the first visitors. Flyers with Amber Hagerman's picture are going up all over Arlington. Friends and neighbors of the Hagerman family say they only wish they could do more. We're more upset because there's nothing we can do. Nobody knows anything.

[Nick]

That's the thing.

[Reporter]

We can't do anything.

[Nick]

You don't know where to look.

[Reporter]

Amber's disappearance has hit home, perhaps too close to home for parents in this quiet neighborhood. Arlington police Officers are here 2044 hours a day.

[Nick]

It's real scary. My kids were down there in that.

[Reporter]

Same parking lot riding their bikes Saturday.

[Nick]

Morning and that could have been my kid.

[Reporter]

Amber, her little brother Richard and mother Donna Whitson are one of The Families Channel 8 has been profiling for a Family first special on welfare reform. Amber is a third grade honor student and Girl Scout who just sold 165 boxes of cookies. Whitson and Amber's father, Richard Hagerman, say there will be no relief from the terror they now live with until Amber is home.

[Donna Whitson]

I want my baby back. So please, if you have my baby, please, I beg you, let me have her back. She's my life.

[Nick]

Let's go back in time, captain to 1986 when proud, excited parents welcomed, welcomed little Amber Renee Hagerman into the world just two days before Thanksgiving, 1986. Amber's mom and dad are Donna Whitson and Richard Hagerman. Amber was a Girl Scout and a rather social little girl who loved riding her bike. Amber had one sibling, a little brother named Ricky. And she just loved being a big sister. So much so that when little Ricky was very small, still just a little tiny baby, Amber told her mother Donna, that this is my baby and I'm going to take care of him. Amber was raised in the greater Arlington, Texas area. Many of you may be familiar with Arlington. This is a large Texas town famous for the home of what the locals call the Death star. This is AT&T Stadium where them Cowboys play, where Jerry's Cowboys play football in near the Dallas and Fort Worth area as well. This is all kind of one big batch of cities all kind of resting next to one another. Arlington and especially the neighborhood that we will be talking about in specific area that we will be talking about here today are and were even back in 1996 when our true crime story takes place. This was a safe area, low crime, especially Low violent crime. We will get back to 1996 soon, but first let's go through a little background information regarding the Hagerman family. At some point, the parents, Donna and Richard's relationship changes. And this is because Richard develops a drinking problem that will lead to accusations of domestic abuse. Donna has said that Richard became violent towards her on some of the nights when he would come home drunk. Donna eventually leaves Richard taking the kids after neighbors had called the police on what sounds like Captain many occasions. So Donna took off to start over without Richard. In fact, Richard would not be much in any way part of the kids lives. For about a year's time, Donna didn't feel safe around him. Of course, he needed to make some big changes in his life and his actions before he could see and be involved with these children again. Once he started making progress, Donna would allow Richard to visit the kids mostly on weekends when he would show up with pizza and snacks for the two little ones. So let's go to 1995. This is when we have Donna. She's living with the two kids, raising them primarily by herself, and it's a struggle. She met Richard when she was young, she got pregnant when she was young. And I don't have their exact ages here in my notes, Captain, but if I recall correctly, I believe Richard is about 14, maybe 15 years older than Donna.

[Captain]

Yeah, there's a little bit of an age gap there.

[Nick]

So she's got two kids, she's on government assistance, and she's not taking child support as per the history with Richard, because she doesn't want to be forced into a shared custody situation. But Donna is tough as nails, as tough as they come. She's raising the kids, she's working, and she's going to school all at the same time to set herself up with a career in nursing to try to better her situation, not for her, but for her children. Before Amber's disappearance, Amber's family was part of a TV production about families struggling to get off of welfare. Now, because of this, there is a lot of video footage of Amber Hagerman available still to this day. Now, to me, Captain, that is very much the definition of a bittersweet moment. It's so precious and saddening all at the same time to see these images, and not just images, but motion picture of a very happy little girl playing with friends, celebrating a birthday, riding bikes with her little brother. Because those moments captured on video camera are lasting forever. And you get to hear her talking, laughing, just being a kid. So while you want to have those keepsakes to remember her, remember the good times. It's a double edged sword because it makes your heart feel so good, but at the same time can also break it. All right, let's get into the day in question here. We're going to go to Saturday, January 13, 1996. Remember, sometimes dates are important to any crime. Not just the date, but the day of the week and where that date falls on the calendar for that year. And we may see why with this particular case. Again, this is Saturday, January 13, 1996. Saturdays were typically family day for Amber mom and brother Donna Whitson and her children Amber and Ricky drove to a home in Arlington, Texas to visit Donna's parents Glenda and Jimmy Whitson.

[Captain]

And this was a typical situation. They, they visited this house often. So the kids felt very comfortable playing inside the house, outside the house and riding their bikes in the neighborhood.

[Nick]

Exactly. Now before going to Donna's parents house and like the captain said, this would be a typical stop for them, they had some other stops earlier in the day. So fun stop number one for the day. The family of three spent some time playing at a local park. This is a park where they had played at several times before. Then the three went off to have some lunch at a Burger King restaurant. This was a family favorite. And then next up was fun spot number three for a little bike riding action. So the three went to Donna's parents home. Again, this is Jimmy and Glenda Whitson. Donna is very close with her parents. Amber and Ricky. The little grandkids were close with their grandparents as well. Jimmy and Glenda lived in one of those cool old school neighborhoods. Probably one very similar and familiar to what many of our listeners can relate to. Those children of the 90s. This is one of those very suburban neighborhoods. Standard size lots, probably about 4, 500 square feet, single family homes. A lot of homes built in what looks like probably the 60s, late 60s. And I love those type of neighborhoods, Captain, that have folks that some are still original home buyers still there three or four decades later. This is the type of neighborhood where you have streets that only see local traffic. Right. See traffic from people that live in the neighborhood coming and going.

[Captain]

It wasn't really a pass through neighborhood. It was like you're only driving down those roads if you, you live in that area or you're visiting that area.

[Nick]

Yeah, it's just, it's a part of a busy area, let's say with businesses and whatnot. But it's kind of like tucked off to the side Right. Where you venture into this neighborhood primarily only for the purpose because you live there. The two children had their bikes stored at grandma and grandpa's house and they loved to ride them while they were at GMAZ and G Balls. It was a sunny day on that Saturday. The temperature was just above 70 degrees. So weather is quite fantastic.

[Captain]

Yeah, especially for January.

[Nick]

Now we have Amber, who is nine years old at the time and her little brother is five. The two youngsters asked to ride their bikes in the neighborhood. And like the captain said, this was a very common activity for them. The way that this would play out is they were allowed to take these short, unsupervised bike rides, but they were very quick. Right. It was go down, you pull out of grandma and grandpa's driveway and you make a left or a right, but you go down about half a block, turn onto another street and then turn onto another street and then you turn right back onto Grandma and grandpa street.

[Captain]

Yeah, basically they're going in a circle on very. Like you said, they're going in a circle on streets that aren't that busy. They knew which streets that they could turn down and which streets they couldn't go on. And I also think it was probably a situation that the mother and the grandparents probably weren't just sitting outside, they probably going in and out of the house because like you said, it's a safe neighborhood, it's a safe time. They weren't worried that something bad was going to happen.

[Nick]

And it wasn't their first rodeo. You know, they've gone on the spike ride many times and like you said, mom and her mother would sit outside, watch the kids go by, wave to them when they make their, when they pass through again. And they would take this little route. It's, it's very much a, a quick circle route. But if you look at it on a map, it looks more like a triangle. But it's all these quick little short neighborhood streets. There's no businesses on these streets. It's all homes that look like their grandparents houses. And from my understanding too, another common thing that would take place was Grandpa Jimmy. He's a busy guy, likes to stay busy, and he would often be outside working in the yard or in the garage working on something. So he is for about a third of this bike trip pretty much within an earshot of these kids. And you, we've all been there, right? Whether be it with, with our short pants on as kids ourselves or with our big boy pants on as parents, where you take the kids out, you show Them the route. You ride with them the first few times that they are on this route. So they know where they're allowed to go. You know that they feel safe and you know that they know the lay of the land. And then after they've done this for several weeks or several times themselves, it's time for them to go off on their own and do the adventure on their own.

[Captain]

Well, and I think the family felt more safe too because Amber's 9 years old. So she's also looking after her little brother.

[Nick]

She's big sister and like we said earlier, she even that's her baby. She was very protective of her little brother Ricky. With adult permission, Amber and Ricky left the home that afternoon and as said, they were allowed to ride their bikes around the block. Only they were not to go further than that. Despite that warning. Look, little kids don't always listen to mom and dad. That's, that's been going on since little kids have existed. So despite that warning, Ricky and Amber chose to ride their bikes to a parking lot of an abandoned grocery store. Now this is still very close to their grandparents home. It's actually less than 0.3 miles or 2 blocks roughly from the grandparents house.

[Captain]

Yeah, not far from the grandparents house. But it's very close to the path that they're allowed to be on.

[Nick]

The parking lot that they arrive at has a ramp that most certainly received attention from Amber and probably her brother as well. The lot was surrounded by some residential homes on one side and also included some other businesses in the same parking lot. So you have a, a grocery store that has since shut down, been shut down and empty for some time now.

[Captain]

I believe it was a Winn Dixie.

[Nick]

But you also have a laundromat and an auto tint shop in the same parking lot.

[Captain]

This is very common in suburban America. On the main streets you have a strip of businesses and behind those businesses you have these small neighborhoods.

[Nick]

Yeah, and I'll try, I'll do my best to try to describe this. There was a really great diagram that was put out by the Fort Worth Star Telegram. We'll go ahead and give a little background because it gives one of those at a glance captions which reads, amber Hagerman was riding her bicycle in the parking lot of a vacant East Arlington grocery store on a Saturday afternoon when she was abducted by a man. This diagram here, Captain, what it's showing us is the parking lot in relation to the grandparents home. And so to describe this, from south to north we have East Abrams street, which has been described to us as a rather busy street. Now, to the east of abram street, you have Browning, and then north of that, you have highland street. So off of Highland is where you have residential homes. These are homes that are part of that neighborhood that Amber's grandparents live in. And some of these houses back up to this parking lot and these businesses that are in this parking lot. So you can see how close this is to their home. It's actually very close to the path that they would be normally taking on their bike ride that is allowed by their mom and grandparents.

[Captain]

Yeah. So you have this old Winn Dixie that's shut down, and you have the loading docks. And those loading docks basically are built in ramps. Now, Amber and her brother weren't going to go up these ramps and do jumps and backflips, but they would ride up the ramp and ride down the ramp. And I'm sure this is a area that they would have been allowed to go in if they're on a bike ride with their grandparents or. Or one of their parents was there.

[Nick]

Yeah, because it looks to me, based off of this map, captain, that they only ventured off about two blocks away from their normal path. So, yeah, had they been accompanied by an adult and said, we really want to go over here and check this out or see what's going on over here, they probably would have been able to do so and would have been able to do so rather quickly in this parking lot. It's pretty large, and you have it an entrance and an exit both on Abrams street and browning street. To the west of the grocery store, you have a laundromat. Now, this laundromat is active. It's. It's open. It's actually open for business on this very day on this afternoon. And there are cars parked there at the time. So we know that people are in this laundromat and they are washing their clothes and whatnot inside the facility. But one thing that's terrible is this the one side of the building, the east side of the building, that faces where we believe Amber was when she was abducted. That one side of the building has no windows. Then just south of the laundry mat, in the same parking lot, you have an auto body tent shop where the back of that building would be facing the approximate area where the little girl would be abducted from.

[Captain]

Yeah. Which obviously this is not going to. When you build a grocery store, you don't put the loading dock for. For everybody in the public to see the loading dock. We're going to get an eyewitness from the neighborhood. But to hear her brother describe what happened. Basically we're, we're going on the route, we're riding our bikes for a while, we're doing what we normally do and then we decide, hey, we're gonna, we're gonna veer off the path, we're going to go down to the old abandoned grocery store or going to go up and down the ramp a few times. And this has probably happened hundreds, maybe thousands of times when you're a kid, you're somewhere that maybe you shouldn't be or you're gone a little bit too long. And then the group decides, okay, we got to get back. So they head back and to hear her brother talk about, well, yeah, I'm riding back home and I'm just assuming she's behind me. And like you said, it's less than 0.3 miles away. So by the time he gets back in, in the vicinity of his grandparents house, he's now turning around looking, going, where's my sister?

[Nick]

Yeah. And we'll get into all of the details of what we know about the abduction, about the witness and the particulars. But the terrifying thing here that is just so difficult to wrap my head around is that all of this takes place in just an eight minute time period.

[Captain]

Yeah, it reminds me of like the Mara Murray case. She's seen by an individual, that individual goes into his house, calls the police. By the time the police show up, Mara's gone. And, and just like I said, when you have a situation where you're riding bikes with your sister, you head back home and now minutes later, she's gone. All right, we are back. Tall cans in the air. If you haven't subscribed to us on YouTube, make sure you do. So I've been adding some of the old off the record episodes. The one we did was the title is Ted Bundy Invisible Man John Douglas. And if that doesn't make you want to listen to it, I don't know what will. Cheers to you, Colonel.

[Nick]

Cheers to you Captain as well. I'm going to take a few paragraphs here because I think it's very well described from a Reddit poster who goes by the name of Quirky Motor, who did an extensive write up on this case about four years ago about the abduction of Amber Hagerman. This write ups, very good. And the particulars here, again we have such a short window of time that it, it really makes this case very difficult for investigators to work. But I, I do think that there is a lot here when you Start to sift through it at least potential leads or ideas about where to take your investigation. So Quirky Motor writes that Ricky, little brother Ricky made one loop around the parking lot and tells his sister Amber that they needed to go home. Ricky says he didn't want to get in trouble. He knows that they're somewhere that they should not be. And instead of following her brother, Amber said that she wanted to stay and ride around some more. Reluctantly, Ricky heads home by himself. Now, once there, Amber's grandparents ask the little boy, where's the family called Amber Sissy. And Ricky said she was riding her bike still. And they told him, you know what? Go back out and get your sister. So Ricky returned to the parking lot. He later says that he found the lot empty, meaning he didn't find his sister when he returned there. The route from this parking lot, Captain, back to the parents home. Even at five years of age, he's probably able to figure out that, well, if she left to come home, she would have passed me, we would have crossed paths. I would have never made it to the parking lot to tell her to come home.

[Captain]

Well, I think there was a loop that they. They wrote in. So I think there is a possibility. But. But as you're coming out of the neighborhood onto that grocery store, like be way before you get to the grocery store, he's going to be able to see that his sister's not on the ramp. But like you said, the one way back home or the fastest way back home, she would have passed him. She didn't pass him. And there's probably nothing worse in this poor little kid's brain at the time. Hey, go get your sister. I have to now go back to the place that we're not supposed to go to. And then when I get there, she's not there. So maybe there's a little bit of hope. Well, once I get back to grandpa's house, she'll be there. But obviously she wasn't.

[Nick]

Well, he sees the lot empty, doesn't see his sister. He turns around, starts pedaling as fast as he possibly could. And as he gets close to grandma and grandpa's house, he starts yelling that he's gone, Sissy's gone. Well, grandpa Jimmy Whitson, he hears his grandson saying this. He grabs the grandson, hops in his truck, and they speed off to the parking lot. And this is where things go from concerned to terrified because their. Their grandpa and grandson, they find little Amber's bike just lying there on the ground.

[Captain]

And why don't you say that he's more, he's more of a father figure than he is a grandpa.

[Nick]

I, I say, you know, those lines get blurry at times, especially with certain families. And he's very active. He's probably more active than some grandfathers and live close by. And as you pointed out earlier, going to grandma and grandpa's house on a Saturday, which was their family day, was. Yeah, commonplace. So he's, you know, he's hanging out with the kids a lot. So. Peacock did another great true crime documentary on this case.

[Captain]

They've been hitting it out of the park lately, in my opinion.

[Nick]

Yeah. And they're, they, they make these documentaries that are the appropriate length, I think, too, where they're easily consumable, easily digestible, but they, they pack a lot of information and details into the documentaries. I believe this one comes in at about 90 minutes approximately, and it's titled Amber, the Girl behind the Alert. And in that documentary, you get to see a lot of video footage of Amber's mom, Donna. She's pretty much the centerpiece of the documentary. But you see Amber's father, Richard, and you see a lot of video footage of the grandparents. And my thoughts here, Captain. When they showed Grandpa Jimmy, he just looked like, mystified, right? Like that. He showed up to the parking lot and it. And just like the shock never left his face in his body of. I got to the parking lot and all I saw was her bike there. It's just, it's just the little girl's pink bike. And he had no answers for it. There are multiple reports out there. It seems like the majority of the reports state that the at least one police officer was already on the scene in the parking lot when, when the grandfather returned with the little boy. But just to be on the safe side, we'll go through both here. So some, some reports have that police were already there when little Ricky returned with his grandfather. And others have them pulling in just afterward after the grandpa's truck pulls into the lot.

[Captain]

It'd be really hard to put yourself in the, in the shoes of the grandfather or of the brother because he's in the truck as well. He goes to get his sister, she's not there. But I don't think he noticed the bike until he notices the bike with the grandfather, but very difficult to try to put yourself in either one of their shoes of this is a oh, shit moment.

[Nick]

Regardless of who was there first. Police are on the scene so very quickly because when Ricky first left the lot, a man named Jim Kevl. So he's a 78 year old man. He's working in his backyard. Remember we talked about some of those residential houses from that neighborhood that back up to this parking lot. He's out in one of those backyards, his backyard, working. When he said that he saw a young girl riding a colorful bicycle up and down the ramp when suddenly a black or dark blue pickup truck drove up to the little girl. He says a man hopped out from the truck and with one fell swoop grabbed Amber and forced her into his truck. She tried to kick and let out one loud scream. The truck left the parking lot and turned west on east Abram street. Jim Kevl immediately called the police who were on the scene. In less than three minutes time, the officers found no sign of Amber except for her abandoned bike.

[Captain]

It's not that big of a city so you got patrol officers probably on that main road. So they, they respond as quick as possible. I mean a three minute turnaround time, can't blame the police for that one. But could you even imagine seeing what he saw? It probably took him longer than the action that he saw. It probably took him a little bit of time to gather his thoughts on what did I just see? Did I see somebody kidnap a girl or. Or was this her parents retrieving her?

[Nick]

From the time Amber and Ricky left their grandparents home to ride bikes to the time that the neighbor Jim Kevl called police is approximately eight minutes that had elapsed. Eight minutes time. That's it. That is how quick all of this went down. This here is some very detailed information. So I say listen closely. So this is from WFTV9 and it states a 78 year old man who lived down the street witnessed a terrible sight through the chain link fence that separated his backyard from the rear of this article refers to it as a strip mall. I wouldn't call it a strip mall. It looks like three businesses in a large parking lot to me where the store was located. The witness Jimmy Cavill told CBS Dallas Fort Worth about the experience in 2016. He says, quote, I saw Amber riding up and down. We should note here Kevl passed away months after this interview. But he goes on to say she was by herself. I saw this black pickup. He pulled up, jumped out and grabbed her when she screamed. I figured the police ought to know about this so I called them. He says Amber also tried to kick the man as he forced her into the truck. Kevl is a u. S. Navy veteran and former sheriff's deputy. He told police that as he hurried into his house to call 91 1. He saw the kidnapper pull out of the parking lot and head west on Abram Street. He described Amber's abductor as a white or Hispanic man in his 20s or 30s, under 6ft tall with a medium build and brown or black hair. His truck was a single cab pickup. It was in good condition and was solid black with no chrome or striping. Police have said that the truck was believed to be a 1980s or 1990s full sized fleet side pickup with a short wheelbase and a non sliding clear rear window.

[Captain]

But this is Arlington, Texas, my friend. And to find a black pickup truck in Arlington, Texas, that's like finding a needle on a haystack.

[Nick]

Yeah, there's a lot of pickup trucks in Texas. What's great here though from a investigator standpoint is your witness. You would hope to have had more witnesses, right? Like said there were people that were at the laundromat. I believe there were people working or even potential customers at the auto tint shop as well. But those people didn't see anything. You would hope for more witnesses. You would hope for somebody to have some kind of plate number or a partial plate for you. And unfortunately we didn't get that with Amber's case. But the one thing that you do have is your, your witness is a one time police deputy or sorry, sheriff's deputy. So this is a man who at some point has been trained to very quickly observe and take in as much information and observations of a situation and a person and a suspect as he can very quickly.

[Captain]

Well, it makes you wonder though too, is there, I know for a long time in Ohio both on the car you had to have a front license plate and a back license plate. So I wonder in 1996 if that was a law in Texas or did they only have to have a backplate plate? And it seems to me, and I could be wrong, but it seems to me as he's seeing this individual, he's almost seeing the truck forward facing. Or do you think he's seeing it from behind?

[Nick]

I, I actually think he's seeing it from the side and, and look right, right. You know, we see a reenactment in the documentary. There's also a dramatization movie about this case that came out many years ago that I'm sure gives a, a slightly different version of the abduction. The, the Fort Worth Star Telegram diagram that I referred to earlier that lays out all the streets and Kevl's home in relation to where the abduction took place. So his home pretty much backs up to the, his backyard backs up to the laundromat. You know, there's, there is some distance between his chain link fence and the laundromat. But I, I'm not gonna lie to you, man. When, when I first looked at this situation, I was a little suspicious of this old man. I didn't know his background right prior to. But the reason why I was suspicious was something that you're kind of honing in on here with, with the. Him not seeing the plate because in his one description, he says that her feet didn't touch the ground, meaning the abductor picked her up and carried her. She lets out the scream and carries her and forces her into the truck and hit. One of his statements to police is her feet did not touch the ground. And I thought if he's in his fenced in backyard, how the hell did he see that low to the ground from his vantage point? So I was, I'm always suspicious when somebody tells part of a story that just cannot be or doesn't make sense. But then I quickly learned that he has a chain link fence. So he's, he's not obstructed. His view is not obstructed by his fence. It's troubling that he can see that low to the ground from his vantage point and not see the license plate, which would be approximately about the same height off of the ground that I would expect her, her feet to be as the abductors carrying her to the truck. But in this description that is put together with the newspaper here, Captain, it appears that the truck pulled in at haste, pulls in and, and turns into this space that is big enough, plenty big enough for his truck to fit between the laundry mat and the old Winn Dixie. And that the way that he would have pulled in there naturally would have given only a side view of the truck. Now, one thing that could have potentially partially obstructed this eyewitness's view would be the laundry mat itself, because how it's positioned from the back of his, his lot. So unfortunately, our man here doesn't see the plate, which would have been. Of course, it's helpful in any case. But as the captain points out, there's going to be a lot of trucks and probably a lot of similar trucks to this one in this area at the time. Now, one thing that they point out in the documentary that we wouldn't have any ability to know because we're not from this area. I'm, I've actually been to Arlington before, and it is a great city. And if you're ever there, I recommend you go to a place called Texas Live. You will have a fantastic time. Make sure you bring your credit card because you're going to melt it while you're there. But they. They tell us in the documentary that the direction that the witness states that the truck went after taking the girl would be to be heading back into the busy part of the city, which could be telling. It could be telling it all. It also could be nothing. The reason why that's important is she's going to be taken somewhere. Where the hell did this guy take her? They do point out, too, that somebody could have taken that same route to try to get to. I think it's I35, Interstate 35. That is near there. And you would take that direction to get to that interstate. So this detail from the eyewitness lends itself to two things. Either this person wanted or needed to go back into the city for some reason because he lives there or planned to take her somewhere or wanted to get to the interstate to get out.

[Captain]

Of there, because like you said, this main road, just picture on both sides of this main road, him, this, the kidnapper is heading back into the city, if you will. Small city, but on both sides of the road, you're going to have businesses, but behind those businesses are neighborhoods. So there was also some speculation that maybe he lived in one of these neighborhoods and that he went back on the main road to turn into a different neighborhood.

[Nick]

And I think some people are probably questioning what I'm trying to lay out here. And I don't know that I've done a great job of laying it out, but because I'm saying two things. He could take him, because he could be taking her that direction because he needs to go back into the city for some reason, or because he's trying to get to the interstate, which are two different thoughts. But what the documentary, the people on the documentary, I believe are trying to point out is the problem with going back into the city is now you have abducted this little girl. You have something in your vehicle that you do not want to be seen with, right? And you're going to be passing a lot of other motorists, passing a lot of other cars and even people walking on sidewalks. You have the potential to be spotted by a lot of more eyewitnesses. And frankly, the police said, and detectives said, the direction that we are told that he went, if he didn't want to be seen or was really worried about being seen he would have simply taken one of the other streets and got out of town very quickly to unpopulated areas. They were disappointed that there was no other eyewitness, not just from the laundromat or from the other business in the lot, but from the route that they believe that the abductor took with Amber in his pickup.

[Captain]

But I think if you're in law enforcement, you have to say there is no action that the kidnapper took to let us, to lead us to believe that he knew the city or didn't know the city. That's just. There's no evidence to speculate. I think one way or. Or the other is kind of what you're saying.

[Nick]

No, I wouldn't say that. I. What I'm saying is that if the route that he took, that he chose to take in that moment, whether it be planned or panicked or what have you.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

He chose to take that route, and I think he chose to take that route. And I think that the investigators are thinking this and not so much saying it out loud, but he chose to take that route because it was necessary for him for some reason. Meaning if he simply wanted to detect or avoid being detected or getting pulled over with this kid in his car, he would have taken any other route, but he took this route, taking him back to where the most populated portion of the city would be.

[Captain]

Right. But what I'm saying is there's no clear indication of. Was he heading to another neighborhood within this town, or was he heading into a direction to. To get out of town? Because essentially those are the same direction.

[Nick]

Exactly. But what I'm pointing out is that the need could be the same for either. But regardless of what he was doing in that moment, there was a need for him to go in that direction. When you talk about, captain, does this guy. Does the abductor know the city? Doesn't know the city. It gets tough to say. I. I'm under the belief that he knows the city. And we'll get into that here with more details about this case in a minute. What did the abductor know and what he didn't know, I think is key to get into here briefly and touch on it here briefly, because I was quite surprised that some of the early speculation in this case by people that news outlets were talking to back in 1996. Well, this abductor must have been somebody that was. Had some kind of relationship, knew Amber, she was familiar with him. He. I don't know that I would go as far to say the word grooming, but that seemed to be some of the speculation that was being discussed with these news outlets early on in the investigation. Now, while it's great to keep the story in the papers and keep the story on the 6:00 and the, the 10 and 11:00 news, that was surprising to me because you saw the documentary and one thing that the detectives stated in the documentary was based off of our eyewitnesses account. Yes, we have every reason to believe that the abductor probably didn't know Amber, that she didn't know him, and that's why she screamed like it, like he runs out, grabs her forcefully grabs her, she kicks him, screams, and he forces her into the truck. Meaning if it was somebody that she knew she was familiar with, he could have quietly coaxed her into his truck rather than this. I, I mean, I hate to say it this way, but this looks like a snatch and grab situation. He just like, truck pulls up, sees a victim, potential victim, alone, vulnerable, pulls up, comes to a screeching stop, hops out of the truck and as fast as he can grabs this little girl and boom, he's back in his truck and he's getting out onto the street again.

[Captain]

And I'm glad you bring this up, because when you think about the eyewitness, even if he doesn't have a chain link fence, if the perpetrator, this kidnapper, picks her up and is carrying the kid sideways, you would know that her feet didn't hit the ground. And so I think this is a very good point. And, and it makes zero sense to me. Why would, why they would say, well, we think that maybe this kidnapper knows her. This is not the action of a person that knows the victim. This is a action of a person that saw an opportunity and kidnapped this girl viciously, violently and quick. There's a quickness here. And like you said, if you knew her, you could, hey, put your bike in the back of my truck and I'll drive you back to your grandpa's house. She gets in the truck and you don't take her back to the grandpa's house or. Hey, Amber, it's, it's me, your buddy Tony or whoever. If, if she knows you, if you've been grooming her, she's not going to have any fear of getting in the truck with you.

[Nick]

Yeah, I, I believe what the detectives say. I believe what you're saying. I agree with all of that. Because if one thing we do know when we try to get into the psychology of these cases is that usually when a Perpetrator knows the victim. The closer that relationship, the greater lengths and efforts the offender will go to, to conceal and hide what they did and cover up what they did, confuse the investigation and confuse the detectives. That could have, you could have added a speed bump into this whole scenario just by taking the bike. But he didn't. He took the girl and not the bike. Can you imagine had our eyewitness seen the guy come up and grab the girl and grab the bike? He might have just thought, oh, I don't need to call this in. This is not, this is a dad is mad at little girl, girl doesn't.

[Captain]

Want to go home, don't want to keep playing.

[Nick]

Kids never want to come home. They always want to keep playing. He's just taking his kid and he's taking the bike and he's going home. That would have thrown a huge speed bump into this situation. But this guy, this abductor in the moment, didn't care about any of that. All he cared about was taking the little girl and driving off.

[Captain]

Yeah, and also because if you take the bike, we have no way of knowing if this kidnapper saw the eyewitness or not. But if you take the bike now, we don't even know where the crime scene is. If we have no eyewitness. Her little brother Ricky goes back and says, well, she was riding up and down on this ramp. And then they go to the ramp and they see no bike, they start driving around the neighborhood. See what I'm saying?

[Nick]

Oh, exactly. They have to, you know, they canvas the area anyway, talk to all the neighbors and of course, anybody that they could speak to anyway. But you're exactly right, Captain. They would have a whole different line of questioning, talking and canvassing the area because they would have no idea where the girl went missing from or, or that she was abduct. This is, this is one thing I, I wanted to point out. This is one thing that was so very horrific about this particular case to me, compared to the dozens and dozens of cases that we've covered in the past. And I'm sure it mirrors some cases in some regard. But this is not a story of a missing kid. This is not the story of a missing. Then later we find out a murdered child. This is the story of every parent's worst nightmare. This was an abduction. A little nine year old girl was taken, snatched off of the streets of Arlington, Texas. A witness calls emergency services, sounded the alarm. He called because he watched and knew in the very moment from what his eyeballs were telling him, this Some man grabbed this little girl from off of her bike and drives off with her in his truck. This is a story in a case where right out of the gate, as soon as the alarm is raised with he's calling, he's walking into his home to call 911 while the abduction is still in progress is how quickly this is taking place. So this is a rare scenario where you know immediately this isn't some kid that isn't where she, you know, is off where she shouldn't be, is in the basement of a friend's house and you just can't find her. And this is not a case where she mysteriously disappears. Right. Kid walking home, never seen again. Kid riding bike, never seen again. No, this is a witness saw the abduction. And you know, from second one in this case, we are talking about an abduction. Look, abductions of this type are very rare. Stranger abductions, even more rare, thank God. But even with how safe this area, Arlington, Texas, was and still is and how rare abductions would be, you know that these police officers and detectives, they're hearing this 911 call they're getting. They're interviewing the eyewitness. Can you imagine? They know right away what we're dealing with here. This is not a custody battle issue. This is not she went off with somebody that she knows. This is a stranger abduction, and it's the abduction of the worst kind. Foreign.

[Captain]

To thank everybody for joining us here in the garage each and every week, make sure you subscribe to the podcast. So much more to get to join us back here in the garage tomorrow. Until then, be good, be kind, and don't.