Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law on June 13, 2023, that creates an alert to bridge the gap between a child's disappearance and the time it takes investigators to confirm a kidnapping, which is the current requirement for officials to issue an AMBER Alert.
House Bill 3556, named the Athena Alert, was passed by the 88th Texas Legislature in May 2023, granting local police the authority to promptly issue a regional alert regarding a missing child, instead of waiting for investigators to verify an abduction.
Through the implementation of an Athena Alert, law enforcement can leverage the existing AMBER Alert system to swiftly give a targeted alert to individuals residing within a 100-mile radius of the reported disappearance, as well as adjacent counties, notifying them about a missing child.
The new bill is named after 7-year-old Athena Strand. In December 2022, Strand was abducted in Wise County and found deceased a few days later. According to CNN, Tanner Horner, a FedEx driver, was charged with her kidnapping and murder, as he allegedly struck her with his delivery van before strangling her.
An AMBER Alert was eventually made in Athena's case, but it occurred approximately 24 hours after her disappearance, and after she had tragically lost her life, investigators later realized. The AMBER Alert system was named in honor of Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who was abducted near her Arlington residence in January 1996 and was discovered brutally murdered. To this day, Amber's killer remains unidentified.
“I would like to thank Governor Abbott and Texas lawmakers for expediting the Athena Alert and for everyone who supported this life-saving legislation,” said Strand’s mother, Maitlyn Gandy, in an official statement “It has been six months since Athena was killed and every day has been an indescribable struggle. It gives me comfort to know that Athena’s legacy will live on and help save the lives of other Texas children.”
