Each year on National Missing Persons Day, one statistic is repeated: more than 600,000 people go missing in the United States each year, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database.
Chillingly, not all missing persons cases receive equal attention. Missing people of color — particularly Black, Indigenous, and Latino individuals — face a troubling disparity in media coverage and investigative resources, a phenomenon the late journalist Gwen Ifill termed “Missing White Woman Syndrome.”
The crisis is especially acute for Indigenous women, who face murder rates more than ten times the national average on some reservations, and for Black people, who represent 38% of missing persons despite being just 14% of the population. Also, one in three missing children in the U.S. is Latino, according to analysis by Noticias Telemundo of data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Even early American history is replete with stories of missing people of color. There are, of course, the just shy of 400,000 enslaved people taken from their African homelands and brought to U.S. shores. Other communities also have experienced trauma around missing people and kidnappings.
Famously, the story of Matoaka, also known as Pocahontas, is not a sweet Disney tale.
“She was forced to live away from her family and not allowed to see them in a kidnapping situation, taken to Great Britain to showcase the founding of the enterprising Colony. Once she gave birth, she […] died within hours of boarding a ship to return to Virginia,” Victoria Sutton, a Texas Tech University law professor wrote for URL Media partner Native News Online.
The data reveals more inequities. Research by the Columbia Journalism Review found that a missing 16-year-old Black girl might generate 11 news stories, while a white woman in her early 20s could receive coverage in more than 120 stories. This coverage gap has life-or-death consequences. Media attention directly impacts investigation outcomes and the chances of finding someone alive.
Grassroots movements have emerged to honor these lives, raise awareness and demand systemic change.
The loved ones of missing people who find themselves unexpectedly navigating these cases face additional obstacles. There are no federal standards for how agencies investigate missing persons, no single oversight body, and inconsistent state laws.
“Families of missing people of color are forced to carry a weight that no one should have to bear. They are grieving a disappearance while simultaneously acting as their own private investigators and advocates,” Natalie Wilson, co-founder of the Black And Missing Foundation, wrote in response to a URL Media query.
“The ‘visibility gap’ remains one of our steepest hurdles. To solve this, we didn’t just ask for better coverage; we provided the tools to create it. We partnered with the Washington Association of Black Journalists (WABJ) to create The Media Guide for Reporting on Missing Persons,” Wilson added.
Many Black children are quickly labeled “runaways,” which means police don’t look for them in a timely fashion and media attention is scant.
Organizations like the Black and Missing Foundation, Our Black Girls website, and Looking for An Angel nonprofit work to fill these gaps, raising awareness and supporting families through their searches. States including California and Minnesota have established task forces and alert systems specifically for missing Black women and girls.
As communities observe awareness days for missing persons, advocates emphasize a simple truth: Everyone has value. The push continues for equitable media coverage, improved legislation, and rebuilding trust between law enforcement and communities of color, because every missing person deserves the same chance of being found.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
- If someone you know goes missing, report it to law enforcement immediately
- Stay informed about cases beyond what mainstream media covers
- Share missing persons cases on social media
- Donate to or volunteer with nonprofits addressing the crisis, such as the Black and Missing Foundation and the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center and more
- Contact your elected officials to let them know you support bills establishing task forces focused on missing people of color
MORE FROM THE URL MEDIA NETWORK
- Senate passes bill aimed at missing and murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis – Native News Online
- Morgan Farley’s family never stopped looking for her. Now she’s home – Capital B
- Woman vanishes after coming to the U.S. for arranged marriage – AsAm News
- Crisis of missing Black women, a white supremacist serial killer and what comes next – Kansas City Defender
- Indigenous advocates optimistic, cautious about FBI initiative to solve crimes in Native communities – Sahan Journal
- Teenager disappears in North Carolina at age 16; 23 years later, a suspect is named – La Noticia
