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LAYTON -
A woman whose 3-year-old daughter was kidnapped and murdered is taking her personal tragedy, and turning it into a positive force.
Elaine Runyan-Simmons has raised enough money to cover the Utah Attorney General's AMBER Alert budget for the next year. Simmons' daughter, Rachael, was kidnapped and murdered back in 1982.
"What can you do when you've been thrown into this world, the crime of abduction?" Simmons told Fox 13 News. "There's not much you can do but fight back."
Since then, Simmons has thrown her support behind Utah's AMBER Alert, the system used to find abducted children. When it was launched in Utah, it was initially called the "Rachael Alert."
"Elaine went through the worst experience that any parent could ever possibly go through," said Paul Murphy, Utah's AMBER Alert Coordinator. "And rather than feeling sorry for herself, she's decided to use that event to help other children and make sure other children are safe."
The Utah Attorney General's Office is in the midst of a budget crisis as a result of cuts and the economy. The AMBER Alert program is not taxpayer funded. So Runyan got the Davis County Chamber of Commerce's Women in Business program to host a fundraiser.
"We just called in these little favors from people," she said, smiling. "We had many sponsors."
Recently, they presented a check for nearly $7,000 to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. It is enough to cover the state's AMBER Alert budget through 2010.
"The Utah AMBER Alert is always run on a shoestring budget and Elaine Runyan-Simmons keeps providing the shoestrings and everything else for it.," Murphy said.
Simmons is still hoping for justice in her daughter's murder. Rachael Runyan was snatched from a Sunset playground back in 1982. Her body was found 25 days later. The case was re-opened in 2007, with Sunset police announcing that there were several people they were looking at. No one has been arrested since then.
Simmons told Fox 13 News she will be meeting with police detectives next month for an update on the case. They have been doing forensic testing on evidence from the 1982 crime scene. While police have not named any suspects, Simmons said there is someone being looked at closely now.
"We have someone we're looking at, yeah. We don't know him personally, but a lot of the pieces of the pie fit together," Simmons told Fox 13. "And I just, I pray for closure on that."
Elaine Runyan-Simmons has raised enough money to cover the Utah Attorney General's AMBER Alert budget for the next year. Simmons' daughter, Rachael, was kidnapped and murdered back in 1982.
"What can you do when you've been thrown into this world, the crime of abduction?" Simmons told Fox 13 News. "There's not much you can do but fight back."
Since then, Simmons has thrown her support behind Utah's AMBER Alert, the system used to find abducted children. When it was launched in Utah, it was initially called the "Rachael Alert."
"Elaine went through the worst experience that any parent could ever possibly go through," said Paul Murphy, Utah's AMBER Alert Coordinator. "And rather than feeling sorry for herself, she's decided to use that event to help other children and make sure other children are safe."
The Utah Attorney General's Office is in the midst of a budget crisis as a result of cuts and the economy. The AMBER Alert program is not taxpayer funded. So Runyan got the Davis County Chamber of Commerce's Women in Business program to host a fundraiser.
"We just called in these little favors from people," she said, smiling. "We had many sponsors."
Recently, they presented a check for nearly $7,000 to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. It is enough to cover the state's AMBER Alert budget through 2010.
"The Utah AMBER Alert is always run on a shoestring budget and Elaine Runyan-Simmons keeps providing the shoestrings and everything else for it.," Murphy said.
Simmons is still hoping for justice in her daughter's murder. Rachael Runyan was snatched from a Sunset playground back in 1982. Her body was found 25 days later. The case was re-opened in 2007, with Sunset police announcing that there were several people they were looking at. No one has been arrested since then.
Simmons told Fox 13 News she will be meeting with police detectives next month for an update on the case. They have been doing forensic testing on evidence from the 1982 crime scene. While police have not named any suspects, Simmons said there is someone being looked at closely now.
"We have someone we're looking at, yeah. We don't know him personally, but a lot of the pieces of the pie fit together," Simmons told Fox 13. "And I just, I pray for closure on that."
