Latest / Gone Cold - Texas True Crime / Amber Hagerman Part 3: Found

Transcript

Amber Hagerman Part 3: Found · Gone Cold - Texas True Crime

0:01
Speaker 1: The Gone Cold. Podcasts may contain violent or graphic subject matter.
0:05
Speaker 1: Listener discretion is advised. A cold front came through North
0:11
Speaker 1: Texas on the evening of Wednesday, January seventeenth, nineteen ninety six,
0:16
Speaker 1: in the form of an almost spring like thunderstorm that
0:19
Speaker 1: brought light rain at first, followed by a heavy downpour
0:24
Speaker 1: and then cooler temperatures to the Arlington area. The temperature
0:30
Speaker 1: drop felt especially cold to residents since they'd been enjoying
0:34
Speaker 1: one of the most unseasonably warm winters for some time.
0:39
Speaker 1: The rain had abruptly paused any ongoing search efforts in
0:43
Speaker 1: the case that was relentlessly occupying the minds of many
0:47
Speaker 1: area children and absolutely every area apparent, the abduction of
0:53
Speaker 1: nine year old Amber Renee Haggermann. It had been more
0:57
Speaker 1: than four days since an unknown man, almost certainly a stranger,
1:03
Speaker 1: snatched the third grader right off her brand new pink bicycle,
1:07
Speaker 1: carried her kicking and screaming, and threw her into his
1:10
Speaker 1: late model black pickup truck, and then drove off toward
1:14
Speaker 1: the center of town. A little before midnight on the seventeenth,
1:19
Speaker 1: at the forest Ridge Apartments, located in northeast Arlington, off Forest,
1:25
Speaker 1: Hollow Lane tenant Jerry Wurst was standing on the balcony
1:29
Speaker 1: of his second floor unit, taking in the change of weather.
1:33
Speaker 1: Sporadic large drops pattered against the building's roof and windows,
1:39
Speaker 1: the remnants of the preceding storm. It was calming, peaceful,
1:44
Speaker 1: but it wouldn't last. As Jerry stared off into the
1:48
Speaker 1: line of trees near the creek that ran alongside the
1:51
Speaker 1: complex about one hundred yards to the west, frantic screams
1:56
Speaker 1: coming from that area interrupted his leisure. What's going on,
2:01
Speaker 1: Jerry yelled down as he recognized that the origin of
2:05
Speaker 1: the panicked screams was his neighbor. He wasn't expecting the
2:10
Speaker 1: response he got, there's a body in the creek. Jerry
2:15
Speaker 1: immediately called nine one one. The time was eleven forty
2:19
Speaker 1: one pm. He told the emergency operator what his neighbors were, saying,
2:25
Speaker 1: that the body was the little girl everyone had been
2:28
Speaker 1: looking for, meaning, of course, Amber Hagerman. Being a criminal attorney,
2:35
Speaker 1: Jerry already knew not to go near the body when
2:38
Speaker 1: the nine one one operator asked him not to, but
2:43
Speaker 1: he said there were four or five folks down there already.
2:47
Speaker 1: After hanging up the suspense apparently too much to handle.
2:52
Speaker 1: Jerry Wurst grabbed a flashlight and headed to the creek anyway.
2:58
Speaker 1: The forest Ridge of apartments were located in what was
3:01
Speaker 1: considered one of the nicer neighborhoods in Arlington, nestled in
3:06
Speaker 1: between Highway three sixty and a middle class housing edition,
3:10
Speaker 1: separated from them by an access road and rows of
3:14
Speaker 1: old and expansive burr oak and southern live oak trees.
3:20
Speaker 1: The complex was gated and required a code to enter
3:23
Speaker 1: twenty four hours a day. In another unit, a woman
3:28
Speaker 1: named Edie Cocher was speaking with a different nine one
3:31
Speaker 1: one operator her husband, Stuart Coker. Edie told the dispatcher
3:37
Speaker 1: left their apartment just after the rainstorm died down at
3:41
Speaker 1: about eleven thirty PM, to walk the couple's dog, an
3:45
Speaker 1: aging Norfolk terrier named Yoda. As Yoda sniffed around, occasionally
3:52
Speaker 1: marking territory as his own, he led Stuart near the
3:56
Speaker 1: wooded area and the creek. Stuart was listening to the
4:00
Speaker 1: water flow quickly and heavily through the creek when he
4:03
Speaker 1: noticed Yoda began to run back and forth anxiously, as
4:07
Speaker 1: if something had agitated him. When he walked down to
4:11
Speaker 1: see what the canine's problem was Stuart Cocher saw a small,
4:16
Speaker 1: unclothed body in the creek. He quickly scooped up the
4:20
Speaker 1: terrier and ran toward the complex, yelling to alert someone.
4:26
Speaker 1: When Stuart made it inside, he began telling his wife
4:29
Speaker 1: what he saw. I found her, he told Edie, out
4:33
Speaker 1: of breath and dry heaving between words, I found Amber.
4:39
Speaker 1: That's when she dialed nine to one one. Stuart headed
4:43
Speaker 1: back to the creek after vomiting as the result of anxiety.
4:49
Speaker 1: The emergency operator expressed concern that the strongly flowing current
4:53
Speaker 1: would wash the body away and potentially make it difficult
4:57
Speaker 1: to find. Though the scene never been described in a
5:01
Speaker 1: way that provides more answers than questions, it was later
5:05
Speaker 1: said Amber's body was wedged still. Stuart, Cocher and others
5:11
Speaker 1: kept an eye on the body until authorities arrived, and
5:14
Speaker 1: Edie assured the emergency operator her husband would hold on
5:18
Speaker 1: to her should the current begin to take her downstream.
5:23
Speaker 1: It didn't come to that. Stuart later described to reporters
5:29
Speaker 1: the rush of emotions that came over him, calling the
5:32
Speaker 1: experience terrible. I was heartsick, he said, just after commenting
5:39
Speaker 1: that he knew right away the body belonged to Amber Hagerman.
5:44
Speaker 1: It could be my daughter or yours. It's something I'll
5:48
Speaker 1: remember the rest of my life. It's like a part
5:51
Speaker 1: of me is in that creek. The Arlington Police arrived
6:04
Speaker 1: within minutes of the discovery of the small body in
6:07
Speaker 1: the tree lined creek in the city's northeast, just beyond midnight,
6:13
Speaker 1: after the day had turned to Thursday, January eighteenth, nineteen
6:17
Speaker 1: ninety six. Officials from the Terrant County Medical Examiner's Office
6:22
Speaker 1: arrived on the scene. As is generally the case in
6:25
Speaker 1: North Texas, the earlier thunderstorm, referred to in reports as
6:31
Speaker 1: a sudden cloud burst, brought temperatures down about twenty five
6:35
Speaker 1: degrees into the low fifties and had dumped a substantial
6:39
Speaker 1: amount of rain in a short period of time, more
6:43
Speaker 1: than two inches. The creek, along twisting vane that runs
6:48
Speaker 1: to the Trinity River's muddy west Fork, was flowing briskly
6:53
Speaker 1: and forcefully pinned against a concrete slab as the result
6:58
Speaker 1: of the current. The body's skin was a colorless white
7:02
Speaker 1: and in stark contrast to its long, dark brown hair.
7:06
Speaker 1: The opaque, mud clouded water hid her arms and head,
7:11
Speaker 1: the only body parts submerged. The young female wore no
7:16
Speaker 1: clothing save a white sock on her right foot. That's
7:21
Speaker 1: according to almost every initial report at and around the time,
7:26
Speaker 1: although a few called the sock orange, and in twenty
7:29
Speaker 1: twenty one, a detective who had worked the case commented
7:33
Speaker 1: it was on the left foot. As officers and detectives
7:38
Speaker 1: cordoned off the area to begin processing a perimeter around
7:42
Speaker 1: the scene, the small body stayed afloat. There wasn't an
7:47
Speaker 1: authority on the scene who had an inkling of a
7:50
Speaker 1: doubt that the body belonged to nine year old Amber Hagerman.
7:55
Speaker 1: Within an hour and a half, patrol officers accompanied Arlington
7:59
Speaker 1: Police Chaplain Harold Elliott to the home of Amber's grandparents,
8:05
Speaker 1: Glinda and Jimmy Whitson, where the girl's parents, Donna Whitson
8:09
Speaker 1: and Richard Hagerman, had been holed up for four days waiting,
8:14
Speaker 1: hoping to be reunited with their little girl. Chaplin Elliot
8:20
Speaker 1: told the family about the discovery and gently stressed the
8:24
Speaker 1: likelihood that the body was Amber. Positive identification, of course,
8:30
Speaker 1: was pending. At two am, the police chaplain and patrol
8:35
Speaker 1: officers made their way past the media encampment outside and
8:39
Speaker 1: left the Whitson home. Richard Amber's father made his way
8:44
Speaker 1: out front. He and Donna didn't believe the body was
8:49
Speaker 1: their daughter, the man told reporters in a brief statement,
8:53
Speaker 1: She's still alive, Richard said, just before going back inside.
8:59
Speaker 1: The truth was, however, that while he and Donna didn't
9:03
Speaker 1: want to believe this, inconceivably life is shattering news in
9:08
Speaker 1: their hearts, they knew. When asked by reporters if the
9:13
Speaker 1: family would offer further statement, Arlington Police spokesman d Anderson's
9:18
Speaker 1: reply said it all obviously, they're devastated, the officer told them.
9:27
Speaker 1: Crime scene technicians from nearby Bedford and FBI agents assisted
9:32
Speaker 1: Arlington investigators in the search for evidence. It was a
9:37
Speaker 1: frustrating endeavor. The torrential downpour just before the body was
9:42
Speaker 1: found had probably washed away most everything of evidential value. Still,
9:49
Speaker 1: investigators collected and bagged some items, though exactly what they
9:54
Speaker 1: found has never been disclosed publicly. The neighborhoods surrounding the
9:59
Speaker 1: four rist Ridge apartments were also searched. Though the complex
10:04
Speaker 1: was fairly isolated, two incredibly busy roads were close by.
10:09
Speaker 1: Texas State Highway three. Sixty less than a quarter mile
10:12
Speaker 1: to the east, and Green Oaks Boulevard somewhat closer to
10:16
Speaker 1: the south. The cops hoped to find Amber Hagerman's clothing
10:21
Speaker 1: somewhere in the vicinity, and if they ever did, they've
10:24
Speaker 1: successfully kept it a secret for more than two and
10:27
Speaker 1: a half decades, which seems unlikely. While detectives and crime
10:32
Speaker 1: scene investigators carefully combed the scene around the body, including
10:38
Speaker 1: area as far up as the apartment units, officers were
10:42
Speaker 1: going door to door at the complex, asking residents if
10:45
Speaker 1: they'd seen anything something they'd began at around one am.
10:51
Speaker 1: One couple there told police that their young daughters said
10:54
Speaker 1: that two suspicious looking men in a black truck had
10:58
Speaker 1: leered and laughed at her that afternoon. She ran inside
11:03
Speaker 1: and told her parents, but officers were unable to get
11:06
Speaker 1: much more detail out of the girl. There was sufficient
11:10
Speaker 1: reason to believe that Amber Hagerman's killer had placed her
11:14
Speaker 1: body in the creek, or perhaps on the creek bed
11:18
Speaker 1: far upstream. When Arlington Police detective Randy Lockhart arrived at
11:35
Speaker 1: the scene, he later told reporters he observed the body
11:40
Speaker 1: laying face down, caught by a slab where water drains
11:43
Speaker 1: from the street above through a concrete pipe. Twenty five
11:48
Speaker 1: years after that traumatic day, in twenty twenty one, at
11:52
Speaker 1: a Cleburne, Texas rotary club luncheon, Lockhart described it in
11:57
Speaker 1: much more detail than anyone else ever had, and I'm
12:01
Speaker 1: going to provide an extra warning here. The following is
12:05
Speaker 1: an incredibly graphic account that was difficult to read for
12:08
Speaker 1: both Erica and me. After taking initial crime scene photographs,
12:15
Speaker 1: Detective Lockhart said, it came time to turn the body over. Quote.
12:21
Speaker 1: Finally it was time to roll her over to take
12:23
Speaker 1: more pictures. Water was still kind of running over her
12:27
Speaker 1: a little bit. We rolled her over and I caught
12:30
Speaker 1: her head in my hands. Her throat had been cut,
12:34
Speaker 1: several lacerations to her throat. A knife for screwdriver had
12:39
Speaker 1: been used to rip her throat out. It was hanging
12:42
Speaker 1: on by a little bit of skin. She had her
12:46
Speaker 1: eyes open, and she was staring at me. End quote.
12:52
Speaker 1: Detective Lockhart choked up while recalling that day. The memory
12:57
Speaker 1: burned into his mind and impossible to for yet, thousands
13:02
Speaker 1: of gallons of water had rushed over the body by
13:05
Speaker 1: this time, potentially washing away the evidence police needed to
13:09
Speaker 1: solve the case. At least at that point in forensic technology. Finally,
13:15
Speaker 1: almost six hours after the body was discovered, it was
13:19
Speaker 1: removed from the water, placed on a gurney, wrapped in
13:22
Speaker 1: a sheet, and transferred to the Terrant County Medical Examiner's office.
13:29
Speaker 1: There was ample reason to believe that this small body
13:32
Speaker 1: was not placed in the creek at the spot it
13:35
Speaker 1: was found. In fact, Arlington Police spokesman d Anderson said,
13:40
Speaker 1: investigators believed the current had moved the body to the
13:44
Speaker 1: spot just before it was found. The creek had swelled
13:49
Speaker 1: because of the massive downpour, transporting the body downstream, and
13:54
Speaker 1: it stopped, Anderson continued, when the water receded some. But
13:59
Speaker 1: it was not simply a theory. The body certainly was
14:04
Speaker 1: not at that spot. Earlier in the day. Hours prior
14:08
Speaker 1: to the discovery, at one thirty that afternoon, apartment maintenance
14:13
Speaker 1: workers had been at the creek bed and nothing was
14:16
Speaker 1: a miss. There was no body and no sign that
14:20
Speaker 1: anyone had even been down there recently. Though they believed
14:24
Speaker 1: the body was placed in the creek somewhere upstream. Detectives
14:29
Speaker 1: were all but certain whoever committed this heinous, unforgivable act
14:34
Speaker 1: was familiar with this particular stream and the area in general.
14:40
Speaker 1: The creek flowed from south to north and began about
14:44
Speaker 1: two miles from the scene near Lavon Creek Lane to
14:48
Speaker 1: the southeast. Running partially through a neighborhood, the creek goes
14:54
Speaker 1: northeast until it meets Brown Boulevard, and then continues through
14:58
Speaker 1: a couple residential streets before making its way to Hollybrook Lane.
15:03
Speaker 1: From there, the creek is concrete for about a mile
15:07
Speaker 1: as it travels due north through several ungated apartment complexes.
15:13
Speaker 1: The natural channel was made of cement in this area
15:17
Speaker 1: so as to prevent the water from eroding the earth
15:21
Speaker 1: through the many apartment buildings in which it travels, as
15:25
Speaker 1: that would cause damage to the parking lots that run
15:27
Speaker 1: the entirety of the creek's concrete length. Once it hits
15:32
Speaker 1: Green Oaks Boulevard, the creek returns to its natural state,
15:37
Speaker 1: as it remains for about another three quarters of a
15:40
Speaker 1: mile before it dumps into the Trinity River. There's seldom
15:45
Speaker 1: a point on the creek's path in which access to
15:48
Speaker 1: it is restricted. The killer could have placed the body
15:52
Speaker 1: in the creek at almost any point along it for
15:55
Speaker 1: the approximate two miles it runs in the middle of
15:59
Speaker 1: the night, Virtually every spot would have offered privacy as
16:04
Speaker 1: the man finalized his depraved work. While it's impossible to
16:09
Speaker 1: know the route Amber Hagerman's abductor took, he left the
16:13
Speaker 1: scene of that particular crime going west on Abrams Street,
16:18
Speaker 1: and to access any point at this particular creek he
16:21
Speaker 1: would have had to have gone north. Although an identification
16:26
Speaker 1: had not yet been made, detectives and officers working the
16:31
Speaker 1: case Thursday morning knew this body belonged to Amber, which
16:35
Speaker 1: meant her killer had taken her somewhere else first. This
16:39
Speaker 1: theory was further backed up by the results of the
16:42
Speaker 1: autopsy report. On the afternoon of Thursday, January eighteenth, nineteen
16:49
Speaker 1: ninety six, the body found in the creek near the
16:52
Speaker 1: forest Ridge Apartments was confirmed to be that of nine
16:56
Speaker 1: year old Amber Rene Hagermans, person for the Terrant County
17:01
Speaker 1: Medical Examiner's Office, said the official ruling was made by
17:06
Speaker 1: matching a thumbprint from Amber's school safety card. At autopsy,
17:11
Speaker 1: pathologists meticulously searched Amber's body for foreign hairs or fibers,
17:18
Speaker 1: any trace evidence that might help identify her killer or
17:22
Speaker 1: where she'd been. Fiber and hair analysis were still heavily
17:26
Speaker 1: relied upon in nineteen ninety six, although these forensic sciences
17:31
Speaker 1: or pseudosciences perhaps are largely frowned upon today and are
17:36
Speaker 1: generally considered unreliable. It's unclear exactly what of this nature,
17:43
Speaker 1: if anything, was collected. Examiners found no defensive wounds or
17:49
Speaker 1: major contusions on Amber's body, although there were some minor
17:53
Speaker 1: scrapes and bruises. Ruled a homicide. Of course, the cause
17:58
Speaker 1: of death was a slashed now. The nature of that wound,
18:02
Speaker 1: Emmy's Office forensic investigator Tom Gaylor said, suggested that the
18:08
Speaker 1: killer wasn't experienced or skilled at inflicting that particular deadly injury,
18:15
Speaker 1: although the speed and proficiency in which he carried out
18:18
Speaker 1: the abduction certainly suggested he had experience at that action.
18:24
Speaker 1: Perhaps the most disturbing finding at Amber Hagerman's autopsy was
18:29
Speaker 1: the estimation that she was killed on Monday, January fifteenth,
18:33
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six. The medical examiner was hesitant to make
18:38
Speaker 1: that call without careful consideration first. This determination would mean
18:43
Speaker 1: that she was still alive, held captive somewhere for about
18:47
Speaker 1: two days after she was abducted. It couldn't be determined
18:52
Speaker 1: if Amber was left in the creek for the entirety
18:55
Speaker 1: of the two days between her murder and the discovery
18:58
Speaker 1: of her body. Medical investigators also failed to confirm she'd
19:03
Speaker 1: been sexually assaulted, they told the media, though it was
19:08
Speaker 1: largely left unsaid, as the thought both anguished and repulsed.
19:13
Speaker 1: No one, not a single detective or civilian newspaper reader
19:18
Speaker 1: who was keeping up with the story, could think of
19:20
Speaker 1: any other motive. On the morning of Friday, January nineteenth,
19:27
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six, snow flurries danced in the crisp, frigid
19:31
Speaker 1: air and forty mile per hour wind gusts. Wednesday's cold
19:36
Speaker 1: front had brought the temperature down to fifteen degrees with
19:40
Speaker 1: a wind chill of eight degrees when standing out in
19:44
Speaker 1: the open, The mostly clear skies allowed for some respite
19:48
Speaker 1: from the bitter cold, but within the yellow and black
19:51
Speaker 1: crime scene tape at the creek, where police investigators and
19:55
Speaker 1: FBI agents combed an area around the discovery site of
20:00
Speaker 1: Amber's body, tall expansive oaks blocked the Texas suns powerful
20:06
Speaker 1: and warming rays. Water had soaked through the law men's
20:11
Speaker 1: boots and shoes causing a cold burn to their feet,
20:15
Speaker 1: and their faces were red wind chapped. There was a
20:20
Speaker 1: demeanor of defeat that seemed to be shared among the
20:23
Speaker 1: authorities gathered at the scene to continue the search for evidence,
20:28
Speaker 1: a task in which success seemed contingent on a miracle.
20:33
Speaker 1: When the cold front began, the heavy rain washed away
20:36
Speaker 1: practically everything. The grief the law men felt was coming
20:41
Speaker 1: in stages, and at this time hopeless sadness prevailed. One
20:47
Speaker 1: officer epitomized the group's feelings most poignantly, I've been doing
20:52
Speaker 1: this kind of misery for twenty three years now. I
20:56
Speaker 1: think I may have seen just about everything, But I
20:58
Speaker 1: tell you old. A new stage anger was setting in.
21:07
Speaker 1: Later that day, the phone rang at Jimmy and Glinda
21:10
Speaker 1: Wilson's home. The White House was on the line, and
21:15
Speaker 1: President Bill Clinton offered the family his deepest sympathies. Meanwhile,
21:21
Speaker 1: reward money was pouring in between the businesses that put
21:26
Speaker 1: up the initial reward, crime stoppers, and anonymous donors. The
21:31
Speaker 1: reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment in
21:35
Speaker 1: Amber's case grew to thirty five thousand dollars overnight. Speaking
21:42
Speaker 1: for the family, close friend Mike Thompson was somber. If
21:47
Speaker 1: Amber had been attacked and dumped on the side of
21:50
Speaker 1: the road alive, he said, she could have been healed.
21:54
Speaker 1: But now the worst possible outcome has been realized, the
21:59
Speaker 1: one that can not be undone. Mike said out loud
22:03
Speaker 1: what virtually every area resident was thinking. Referring to the killer.
22:09
Speaker 1: He commented as he bought his fist, Let Richard find
22:13
Speaker 1: him or me. Nearly every North Texan shared the sentiment.
22:19
Speaker 1: They wanted to get their hands on the sorry piece
22:21
Speaker 1: of shit who murdered Amber Hagerman. Arlington residents, particularly those
22:39
Speaker 1: who knew nine year old Amber Hagerman, struggled with debilitating
22:44
Speaker 1: sadness after her body was found from the crossing guard
22:49
Speaker 1: who spoke to the little girl every day as she
22:51
Speaker 1: headed into Bury Elementary, to the school's pta vice president,
22:57
Speaker 1: I have cried, I bet you every person and in
23:00
Speaker 1: this neighborhood has remarked whitson neighbor seventy five year old
23:04
Speaker 1: Robbie Burns. He and his wife Doris had known Amber
23:09
Speaker 1: since she was born. Another neighbor, seventy one year old
23:13
Speaker 1: Archie Price, also knew the girl. It's just so overwhelming
23:18
Speaker 1: to think that somebody could do something like that to
23:21
Speaker 1: a small child. The man told a Fort Worth Star
23:24
Speaker 1: Telegram reporter, I hope whoever has done it is caught quickly.
23:30
Speaker 1: There was more than one reason for this. Archie wanted
23:34
Speaker 1: swift justice, of course, but also emotions were high, and
23:39
Speaker 1: there was a feeling in the air that folks might
23:41
Speaker 1: act on their own. Even the vice president of Barry
23:46
Speaker 1: Elementary School PTA was calling for resolution that did not
23:51
Speaker 1: include the justice system. I think they should bring him
23:55
Speaker 1: over here on a pre scheduled day and let everybody
23:58
Speaker 1: take their own actions, she said, of the kidnapper and killer,
24:03
Speaker 1: I think they need to just turn him loose with
24:05
Speaker 1: everybody out here, meaning, of course, the folks in the neighborhood.
24:12
Speaker 1: Funeral services for Amber Renee Hagerman were held on the
24:16
Speaker 1: afternoon of Saturday, January twentieth, nineteen ninety six, at First
24:21
Speaker 1: United Methodist Church. The ceremony was closed casket of which
24:27
Speaker 1: a large spray of pink flowers sat atop. The church
24:32
Speaker 1: choir sang America the Beautiful. It was Amber's favorite because
24:37
Speaker 1: one line speaks her name for Amber waves of grain.
24:42
Speaker 1: She was buried at More Memorial Gardens, cemetery at the
24:48
Speaker 1: sight of the abduction. A makeshift memorial quickly materialized, later
24:54
Speaker 1: to be replaced with something permanent. Dozens of folks left
24:59
Speaker 1: Teddy bears, cards, and flowers, among other tributes to Amber
25:04
Speaker 1: beside the vacant former grocery store. A bitter letter to
25:09
Speaker 1: the killer was left there by Edie Kocher, penned by
25:12
Speaker 1: her husband Stuart, who, along with his dog Yoda, discovered
25:18
Speaker 1: Amber's body. He feels like Amber's a part of him
25:21
Speaker 1: now and he can't stop thinking about her. Edie said
25:25
Speaker 1: of her husband that man's out there. He's paranoid. He
25:29
Speaker 1: knows that everyone in the world is looking for him.
25:33
Speaker 1: Edie went on adding that her husband now sleeps with
25:36
Speaker 1: a gun by his side, fearful. The killer lives in
25:40
Speaker 1: the same apartment complex. Before Amber's body was found, five
25:47
Speaker 1: Arlington PD homicide detectives and eight FBI agents collaborated alongside
25:53
Speaker 1: three APD robbery detectives temporarily assigned to work the case
25:59
Speaker 1: and nothing else. Together, the sixteen lawmen were investigating tips
26:05
Speaker 1: and leads and suspects whose past crimes included those against
26:10
Speaker 1: children and or kidnapping. In order to fully investigate the
26:15
Speaker 1: many leads that were coming their way, and in an
26:18
Speaker 1: attempt to bring her home unharmed, the Arlington Police Department
26:22
Speaker 1: formed the Amber Hagerman Task Force. It was comprised of
26:27
Speaker 1: thirty five of their own detectives, thirty FBI agents, and
26:32
Speaker 1: a considerable number of investigators and officers from other jurisdictions.
26:38
Speaker 1: But the case was now a homicide and the public
26:41
Speaker 1: pressure to find the third grader's killer was intense and mounting.
26:47
Speaker 1: Within the first twenty four hours of the discovery, police
26:51
Speaker 1: received over five hundred tips from the public. Many calls
26:56
Speaker 1: were typically absurd, scorned spouses or lovers seeking to cause
27:02
Speaker 1: trouble for the men who did them wrong by implicating
27:05
Speaker 1: them in Amber's abduction and murder. Maybe a sign of
27:09
Speaker 1: the times, Police spokesman de Anderson made a comment to
27:13
Speaker 1: reporters that might lead one to presume time was being
27:16
Speaker 1: wasted on some of these leads. We treat psychic information
27:21
Speaker 1: like we treat every other piece of information that comes in,
27:24
Speaker 1: the officer said. We treat it as a tip, we
27:28
Speaker 1: treat it as a lead. Other folks who had nothing
27:32
Speaker 1: better to do than to insert themselves did just that,
27:36
Speaker 1: further wasting time that could have been spent investigating leads
27:40
Speaker 1: that actually showed promise. Folks were also calling in giving
27:45
Speaker 1: police the names of people who they said had committed
27:48
Speaker 1: crimes against children. Seventy eight year old Jimmy Kevel was
27:54
Speaker 1: still the only witness to the actual abduction, but earlier
27:59
Speaker 1: on the day the discovery of Amber's body, a man
28:02
Speaker 1: came forward to tell police he had seen the black
28:06
Speaker 1: truck and the driver, just not the kidnapping. The truck
28:10
Speaker 1: was driving slowly through the parking lot thirty to forty
28:13
Speaker 1: five minutes before, perhaps a predator hunting prey. If he
28:19
Speaker 1: was able to provide further details as far as the
28:22
Speaker 1: truck and driver's descriptions, those details have not been released.
28:28
Speaker 1: Another man came forward, claiming he too saw the abduction
28:32
Speaker 1: from his backyard, but when detectives knocked at his door
28:36
Speaker 1: and he answered wearing a Howdy duty costume, police questioned
28:41
Speaker 1: his reliability. Further inquiry apparently confirmed their doubts. Much of
28:48
Speaker 1: the Amber Hagerman task force began to solely focus on
28:51
Speaker 1: known predatory sex offenders, since that was the most probable
28:56
Speaker 1: criminal type involved in the East Arlington area. Forty nine
29:02
Speaker 1: individuals out of the forty two thousand residents were on
29:06
Speaker 1: probation for sex offenses, or rather that's how many were
29:11
Speaker 1: registered as living in the area. Detective Randy Lockhart later
29:16
Speaker 1: commented that, yes, there were rules in place set forth
29:21
Speaker 1: by Ashley's laws that required sex offenders to both register
29:25
Speaker 1: their addresses and update them should they move, but there
29:30
Speaker 1: was absolutely no one in place to ensure it was
29:34
Speaker 1: actually being done. Five days after Amber Hagerman's body was
29:40
Speaker 1: found on Monday, January twenty second, nineteen ninety six, agents
29:45
Speaker 1: from the FBI's specialized Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit arrived. Also,
29:53
Speaker 1: Texas State prison officials began assisting by pouring through the
29:58
Speaker 1: records of any child sex offend that had been recently released.
30:02
Speaker 1: To provide the Arlington Police and FBI with more leads.
30:07
Speaker 1: The Dallas Police Department assigned detectives from their Sex Crimes
30:11
Speaker 1: division to meticulously check their own records and identify even
30:16
Speaker 1: more suspects. Cops in Garland, where eight year old kem
30:21
Speaker 1: Newen was kidnapped, and investigators in Plano, where seven year
30:25
Speaker 1: old Ashley Estelle was abducted, also provided additional leads they
30:30
Speaker 1: had developed while investigating those child murders, both still unsolved,
30:38
Speaker 1: while Amber's slang appeared to be at the hands of
30:41
Speaker 1: a stranger. The CoP's interest in the folks the nine
30:45
Speaker 1: year old knew recommenced in the very short time between
30:50
Speaker 1: Amber's abduction and her father, Richard Hagerman, coming to the
30:53
Speaker 1: Whitson home and learning the news. Donna Whitson thought he
30:58
Speaker 1: might be responsible. That brief suspicion ended when she saw
31:03
Speaker 1: his reaction. However, police weren't so sure, not at first.
31:10
Speaker 1: After her body was found, they wanted to look into
31:12
Speaker 1: him further. The day of the abduction, before he knew anything,
31:18
Speaker 1: Richard visited his storage space about three quarters of a
31:22
Speaker 1: mile away. Detectives secured video footage of him going in
31:26
Speaker 1: and out of his unit with they said, not a
31:30
Speaker 1: care in the world. They saw nothing suspicious and found
31:35
Speaker 1: nothing suspicious when they searched the storage unit. According to
31:41
Speaker 1: every possible indication, Richard Hagerman could not have kidnapped and
31:46
Speaker 1: killed his daughter. He was eliminated as a suspect. Police
31:53
Speaker 1: immediately wanted extensive scrutiny of Stuart Cocher, the young man
31:57
Speaker 1: who found Amber's body, for asa a handful of reasons.
32:02
Speaker 1: The guy said some weird things, but the primary reason
32:06
Speaker 1: being that around a year earlier he'd found a dead
32:09
Speaker 1: body in East Fort Worth. It was quite the red flag.
32:16
Speaker 1: Other individuals raised red flags too, as far as detectives
32:20
Speaker 1: were concerned. In fact, the cops wanted to know something else,
32:25
Speaker 1: What about Donna Whitson's new boyfriend. Donna and her teenage
32:31
Speaker 1: sweetheart Mary and Alan Lake had stayed in touch over
32:35
Speaker 1: the years. They'd known each other since Donna was thirteen,
32:40
Speaker 1: and when Amber was taken, Marian began coming around frequently
32:44
Speaker 1: to offer support and a shoulder for the anguished mother
32:48
Speaker 1: to cry on. Whether it had anything to do with
32:52
Speaker 1: her then current vulnerability or was a more organic reconnection.
32:58
Speaker 1: Donna and Marian's flame was re lit. The Arlington Police,
33:05
Speaker 1: it seemed, had no shortage of suspects, but did any
33:09
Speaker 1: of them offer a solid lead to follow next time
33:14
Speaker 1: on Gone cold, that and the investigation. If you have
33:21
Speaker 1: any information about the abduction and murder of Amber Renee Hackerman,
33:26
Speaker 1: please call the Arlington Police at eight one seven four
33:30
Speaker 1: five nine five seven seven to two. To remain anonymous
33:35
Speaker 1: and to be eligible for a reward, you can provide
33:38
Speaker 1: a tip at Terrant County Crime Stoppers at eight one
33:42
Speaker 1: seven four six' nine eight four seven. Seven if you
33:48
Speaker 1: have not, already look For Gone cold On, Instagram, facebook
33:52
Speaker 1: And twitter by Searching Gone cold and looking for The texas.
33:56
Speaker 1: Logo if you'd like to support the show and get
33:59
Speaker 1: the ad, free go to patreon dot com forward Slash
34:04
Speaker 1: Gone Cold. Podcast thanks to all of you who support us.
34:08
Speaker 1: There it's a huge deal to. Us if you're not
34:12
Speaker 1: in a position to Help Gone cold financially but would
34:16
Speaker 1: like to in some other, way Well i've got just the.
34:19
Speaker 1: Thing leaving us a five star rating and written review
34:23
Speaker 1: On iTunes particularly Helps Gone cold's. Visibility the more folks
34:28
Speaker 1: who find us and, listen the greater chance someone with
34:31
Speaker 1: information about a case here's the show and comes forward
34:35
Speaker 1: with what they. Know every little bit, helps and we
34:38
Speaker 1: appreciate y'all support, immensely however you choose to give. It
34:43
Speaker 1: sources for this episode can be found in the episode's show.
34:47
Speaker 1: Notes thanks for, listening. Y'all