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25 years after Amber Hagerman’s kidnapping, here’s why detectives stay hopeful for a breakthrough in her case
By Charles Scudder and Dana Branham
7:15 PM on Jan 12, 2021 CST

For the first time, police said they have DNA evidence that some day — with new technology that has solved other high-profile cold cases — could be the key to finding her killer.

When 9-year-old Amber Hagerman vanished Jan. 13, 1996, Sgt. Ben Lopez quickly realized hers wasn’t a typical missing-child case.

He was a patrol officer, driving around Arlington that afternoon looking for a black pickup connected to her disappearance. When he saw media vans lined up, he realized the seriousness of the case.

“I remember seeing that and knowing right away that this was a real stranger abduction,” Lopez said. “Of course, all of us were hoping that we would find her alive at that time.”

A few days later, Amber was found dead in an Arlington creekbed. No one has been arrested for her kidnapping or murder in the quarter-century since. Yet as detectives approach the anniversary of her kidnapping, they hold out hope that the case can be solved.

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https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2021/01/13/25-years-after-amber-hagermans-kidnapping-heres-why-detectives-stay-hopeful-for-a-breakthrough-in-her-case/
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