The mother of Amber Hagerman – the 9-year-old girl whose abduction and murder inspired the creation of the Amber Alert system – is partnering in a new business that parents can use to collect and store information about their children should they go missing, according to a news release from the company.
"No parent should ever know the pain of losing a child the way I did. That's why I am so proud to be a part of this," said Donna Norris in a statement included in the release.
In addition to standard information such as descriptions and fingerprints, the business, Amber Child Safety Systems, collects details on a child's relationships with various adults – such as teachers and coaches.
"The system is designed for law enforcement," said Florida-based private investigator Tad Camp, who started the business and is the CEO. "It's designed so that they can begin their investigation and quickly identify or eliminate suspects."
Camp has been working on the idea for about a year, and brought Norris on board as it progressed, he said. They were introduced by a mutual acquaintance.
"We really wanted to do something and get Donna involved in something," Camp said. "That's actually when we started considering calling it Amber Child Safety Systems."
Camp, who was a police officer in Ohio and Florida before being injured in a car crash while on duty several years ago, said he has since specialized in missing children as a private investigator.
The information collected by the system would be available for the parents to share with police if their child were to disappear. Having the information ready can help speed an investigation during its critical initial stages, Camp said.
"It's the same information I've used to do every single one of these recoveries I've done so far," he said.
The service costs about $15 per month for a family of up to five children. Its Web site is amberchildsafety.com.
In 1996, Amber was kidnapped in Arlington and murdered. Her killer has not been caught.
Norris plans to hold a candlelight vigil marking the abduction's 14th anniversary at 6 p.m. on Jan. 13. It will be held at the Winn Dixie parking lot where the abduction happened, at the corner of East Abram Street and Browning Drive in Arlington.
"My sweet Amber – What a beautiful difference one single life has made," Norris said in a statement issued by the company. "Fourteen years have passed since that monster took my baby and it is time for justice."
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