Emotions Run High As Park Dedicated To Missing Child

PINOLE, Calif. (KCBS)  -- More than 18 years after her disappearance, a park in Pinole was dedicated in the name of Amber Schwarz.

“Today is her 26th birthday, and I just wish she could be here to actually be a part of this whole celebration,” said her mother Kim, at a ceremony on Saturday that drew about 100 to a small park on Savage Avenue adjacent to the Schwartz home.

KCBS’s Tim Ryan reports that most who attended hailed from the community where the 7-year-old daughter of a slain police officer disappeared while playing in front of her home.

“It's just a beautiful, serene area. You'd never think that a child would disappear from around here, but it's a double-edged sword,” said Schwartz. “You know she's not here. I wish she was. It's been too long.”

That disappearance on June 3, 1988 ultimately prompted 41 states to implement a missing child alert system of highway signs, radio and television announcements, and now cell phone text messages.

That system, named after another missing girl from Texas coincidentally named Amber, has led to the recovery of every missing child whose disappearance qualifies for the Amber System to be activated, according to a recent report by the California Highway Patrol. But the case of Amber Schwartz remains unsolved.

Kim Schwartz realizes her daughter is probably never coming home.

“She hasn't been located,” Schwartz said, who believes her child was abducted. “I don't think that they took her for good reasons, and I'm thinking after 18 years, we probably may not find her alive, but it's still very important for my family that we find her.”

Pinole police commander Phil Pollard was one of the first on scene when Amber’s disappearance was reported.

“This one will never leave me personally, and I'm sure any officer that was working at the time that day will always remember that,” said Pollard. Many of those officers knew Amber because they worked with her slain father.

Pollard remained vigilant during the dedication, eyeing the crowd as the Star Spangled Banner was sung, wondering if Amber’s alleged abductor might have chosen to attend the ceremony.

(jro)