December 07, 2003

Missing Persons - Is anyone else increasingly disturbed by the fact that while thousands of people are reported missing each year, we only hear about the young attractive white women on the national news? What about everyone else?
posted by falconred 20 years ago
  • The problem superficially appears to be caused by the news media. However if each newspaper dedicated a page to photos of missing persons, how many faces would the average person remember? This kind of publication would probably not help at all. I agree with the SF Gate article - local governments should have missing persons initiatives - working with local businesses to put up noiticeboards, and then connecting with other communities to pass the message. Of course this already happens to a certain degree, and it is reflected in the extra publication about middle class cases, where the family is much more connected and aware of the way society works. In the long term, it is education that is the solution. The people who abduct, kill etc, need the educational oppotunity and need to understand the possibilities of life. The lower class families need to be more aware of society and be better able to attain support in their communities. They must focus on bringing their community together, not dividing it, if they are to succeed to eliminate their apathetic position.
  • It does bother me. The current missing woman in North Dakota is sad, but what is sadder is the media constantly milking the story. The continued coverage of Scott Peterson's trial stuns me. Aside from the families and the local communities who cares? I don't follow the stories but it is hard not to see the daily events in us media. More and more my primary news sources are sites that end in .uk, .ca, and .au
  • Ordinarily I am not one to stick up for men, but take this even further and why don't we here about missing men? Is it that men just never go missing? I doubt it. The last time I heard anything about a missing man it was in conjunction with a missing woman. He and his wife had walked off into the desert to die. Back on topic: yeah - if you're going to get lost in America, you'd damn well better be a looker. Is this a US only phenomenon? What about the rest of the world?
  • Here's a story about a fellow who disappeared and was later found
  • Maybe it's just me, but living in the southern US, I hear about missing men all the time, especially in connection with outdoor trips - lost on a mountain, swept away by a river, etc. By the way, in one high profile case, they found that missing prosecutor.
  • Just don't check my basement.
  • Oh crap, I didn't want to say it, but we're back to K.R.E.A.P., aren't we nick? Say, who are those mysterious hikers behind me? *hikes faster*