30 Years of AMBER Alerts: Meet the Woman Behind the Idea

For 30 years, AMBER Alerts have helped turn communities into search teams when a child is abducted. From billboards to iPhone notifications, these special alerts have given people a chance to recognize a child, spot a vehicle or report information that could help bring someone’s child home.

But 30 years ago, there was no AMBER Alert.

There was Amber.

On Jan. 13, 1996, 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, when a man in a black pickup truck abducted her. A witness called police, and an extensive search began. Four days later, Amber was found dead. Her murder remains unsolved.

Amber’s death devastated her family and shook the Dallas-Fort Worth community. Many residents watched the story unfold on their local news, left wondering how something like this could happen and whether there was anything they could have done to help.

One of those people was Diana Simone.

Diana didn’t know Amber or her family. She simply happened to walk into her home one evening and noticed the television was on. A home video of a little girl opening presents, showing off her Barbie dolls and smiling at the camera caught her attention. Her name was Amber.

As Diana watched the coverage, she heard reporters asking the public for information. Did anyone see anything? Did anyone know anything that could help?

That’s when Diana realized she could have missed the story entirely.

“I realized that had I not been watching and I had not walked in and the TV was on at that time, I would have had no knowledge of this happening,” Diana told NCMEC. “So that made me think that something had to be done to notify the public a little bit sooner.”

Diana began brainstorming with friends and colleagues about how a warning system could work. Many people told her to let it go. She wasn’t wealthy or famous. She wasn’t law enforcement or part of the media. She was just a Texas mother with a feeling in her heart that something had to change.

“They felt I was powerless,” Diana said. “And fortunately, I decided to totally disagree with that. Something in my heart would not let me let this go. I just felt there was something I had to do about it.”

Years earlier, while living overseas, Diana had witnessed a community come together when a child went missing. One person told another, who told another, until the entire community was looking.

She wondered: Why couldn’t that happen here?

“If one child isn’t safe, I don’t care where they are. If one child isn’t safe, no child is safe,” Diana said. “And that’s not okay. That is not acceptable.”

She began envisioning a system that could quickly put information about an abducted child in front of the public. When a friend suggested the radio, Diana got to work.

Diana Simone’s letter proposing an AMBER Alert system after Amber’s abduction (Credit: Diana Simone).

She reached out to local broadcasters, who helped bring the idea to radio station managers and law enforcement. After months of work, the Dallas-Fort Worth area introduced the first AMBER Alert plan in October 1996, originally called Amber’s Plan.

The first two alerts produced no results.

“They were ready to scrap it and say, ‘nice idea,’” Diana recalled. “But they issued that third alert and it resulted in the rescue of an infant in 45 minutes.”

Diana cried.

And her idea began to spread.

Thirty years later, AMBER Alerts can reach people through television and radio, highway signs, wireless emergency alerts and other platforms. As of Dec. 31, 2025, AMBER Alerts had been credited with the successful recovery of 1,312 children in the United States.

At the 2026 Hope Gala, NCMEC honored Diana for her role in helping turn an idea into a national system that continues to bring communities together when a child is missing. 

Diana Simone with her family at the 2026 Hope Gala (Credit: NCMEC).

Each recovery represents a child brought home and a family given another chance to be together.

For Diana, the program has never been about her.

“I have never felt personal ownership of the AMBER Alert,” she said. “I always refer to it as the day God spoke through me. It doesn’t belong to me.”

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For more information on AMBER Alerts, visit NCMEC’s website at: https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/amber