track 79: Ashanti billie/ amber hagerman
Summary: In the wake of Carlee Russell’s eerie disappearance from a stretch of highway in Alabama, her parents urged law enforcement to issue an “Ashanti Alert” on Carlee’s behalf. On this week’s episode, we dive into the alert systems that have our phones vibrating off the hook. First, we tell the story of Ashanti Billie, the 19 year old student behind the Ashanti Alert. And since we are talking about alerts, we also felt it was only right to cover the story of Amber Hagerman, the nine year old behind the infamous Amber Alert.
An image of Ashanti Billie.
A photo of Ashanti’s mother, Brandy Billie, at a press conference.
An image of Eric Brown, the murderer of Ashanti Billie. Eric has not been convicted for Ashanti’s murder because he has been declared unfit to stand trial.
An image of Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996. She is the young child behind the “Amber Alert.” Her murderer has never been caught.
This episode was made possible because of the below sources:
YOUTUBE CLIP:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CK8QiAojo2Q&feature=youtu.be
ARTICLES:
https://bja.ojp.gov/library/publications/national-ashanti-alert-network-fact-sheet
https://www.ebony.com/navy-vet-ashanti-billie-death/
https://www.wtkr.com/news/sen-mark-warner-wants-other-states-to-implement-ashanti-alert
https://clearalert.org/other-states
https://www.scribd.com/document/363892776/COURT-DOCUMENTS-Retired-Navy-Veteran-Charged-with-Kidnapping-Ashanti-Billie#
Amber Alert:
Amber: The Girl Behind the Alert (2023) — Available on Peacock