A man leads police to a body buried in a snowbank on Christmas Day, 1977. This murder in Madison, Wisconsin, would captivate the public with a tale of sex, murder, drugs and money.    

Resources:

Book: Winter of Frozen Dreams - by Karl Harter

Video: Winter of Frozen Dreams  

On Christmas Day, 1929, one of the country's worst mass murders took place in North Carolina. This is Chapter 2 of Holiday Homicides: The Lawson Family Murders.

The Lawson family portrait - part of Charlie Lawson's "Christmas surprise".

The crime scene became a tourist attraction complete with blood splatter.

Resources:

Book: The Meaning of Our Tears: The True Story of the Lawson Family Murders by Trudy J. Smith

Ballad: The Lawson Family Murder by Doc Watson

In the early morning hours of Christmas Eve, 1881, a brutal attack was perpetrated on three sleeping teens in Ashland, Kentucky.

The three suspects in the Ashland murders

Poem: The Ashland Tragedy, composed as a ballad by Peyton Buckner Byrne of Greenup County, Kentucky.

Music: The Cherry Tree Carol and Carol of the Bells from An Appalachian Christmas, Composer Mark O'Connor

A 9-year-old girl is abducted in Arlington, Texas. The community and, ultimately, the country would call for changes in the way law enforcement responds to missing and abducted children  

You can find the video about Amber and her family here: WFAA Amber Hagerman Documentary

Click here to find out more about the AMBER Alert System

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children can be contacted at 1-800-THE-LOST or www.missingkids.org .

You can see a list of active AMBER alerts here.

Tips to keep your children safe:

1) Have a code word phrase. This is a phrase that you would share with your children, especially as it relates to adults they should and can trust. They should know that if you send someone to pick them up from school or any activity, the code word will be used. Make it something funny or personal so it’s easy for the kids to remember. A child should only go with someone who tells them that phrase. 2) Teach your kids that adults don’t need help from kids. If an adult needs directions, help finding a pet or anything else, they should ask another adult, not a child.

3) Let your child know it’s OK to yell, scream, and say no to an adult if they feel uncomfortable or scared. We teach children to listen to adults and not to be disruptive, but there are times they should disobey and be loud. It’s a good idea to practice with your kids. Give them a scenario and have them practice say no firmly and loudly, screaming, and running away.

4) Be careful of sharing too much identifying information on the internet. Of course, we like to share pictures and information about the cute and fun things are children do on Facebook and other social media. But predators can get information about a child's location, routine, etc., if identifying information is shared such as school names, names of parks you frequent, even locations of meeting places like scout troop meetings, sports fields, etc. So, just keep that information to a minimum and without details. Family members and good friends already probably know it so it's not necessary to share.