This is a subject that I have been mulling over for months. Are the number of missing persons on the rise, or is it just that modern technology, the 24 hour a day news channels, and the internet are covering these cases in more depth than the traditional media model? Or it just that Jan and I have become more focused on the subject?
My theory is that the answer is a yes to all of the above.
It is not all doom and gloom. Jan pointed out that there occasions where she will get an alert for a missing child, and by the time she has written an article the missing child has been found. You can read the article here.
There are never the less a growing list of missing children, adults, and the elderly. Where are these people? Not every case is the result of foul play, but every case is cause for concern.
It may be unfair, but it is a fact of life, 1% of the cases gain 99% of the press coverage. The great examples of this unfortunate trend are Caylee Anthony and Haleigh Cummings. A google search on Caylee Anthony and her accused killer Casey Anthony results in over 11 million hits. A similar search on Haleigh Cummings, some time step mom Misty Croslin, father Ronald Cummings, and the rest of the rag tag mob comes in at over 5 million hits.
But what about the many other missing persons? They get short changed is the simple answer.
I was looking at the cases Jan has followed just over the past two days. These people are not famous, they have not received any press coverage, but they should:
Louis Fanning and Anastacio Gomez
The sad part is that this is the mere tip of the iceberg. I have no solution to the problem. There is no magic bullet. There are some observations however. In many missing children cases, when you look back you gain 20/20 vision. The writing was on the wall, but no one took the time to read it. Clearly Casey Anthony could not even deal with a Chia Pet ($9.99 plus S&H) never mind a daughter. Where were the family? Who couldn’t see the problems?
The Haleigh Cummings story is just as sad and frustrating.
I am not a fan of regulation, I enjoyed George Orwell’s 1984 for what it was, a book. I do not think that we need more government regulations, but I do think that everyone has a responsibility for looking out for those in potential danger. They may be young, they may be old, or they may be somewhere in the middle. But they share one thing in common, someone knew something, someone dropped the ball.
Simon and Jan Barrett
6 users commented in " Missing People – They Are More Than Just A Statistic "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackHi Jan and Simon
You are so right about the media, you know the struggles that I have had and still have in getting attention for my son Zachary Pittman, who has been missing 86 weeks today. I appreciate everything yall have done for Zachary. I am still working hard on getting Zachary “out there”. I wished that people would realize that missing persons are on the rise, 2300 a day go missing, it could happen to someone you know, God forbid. Its a nightmare that never ends, not knowing. Take care my friends.
Simon,
you are so right. I will catch a name about a missing person and if I don’t write it down I’m ######. because chances are when I google a name I may only get 1 article and thats it. no updates. it’s so sad.
Simon this is such a great article.It is so true. I agree that this crime is on the rise.I also think Technology plays a part for the rise in these crimes. It is even easier now for predators to prey on the innocent. I also do not have the answers to solve this epidemic. I wish I did.
It is the missing that brought me to your site. You and Jan work endlessly to bring the missing a voice and to cover as many cases as you can. I know it must hard to keep up with them all. It is truely heartbreaking. I thank you both for your tiredless efforts. Where would the missing be without people as yourselves to be a voice and allow those of us who feel the way you do to express our voices and become apart of their voice so it can be heard. They all need Justice and to be found and brought home even if it to lay them to rest. These families need that closure of knowing what happened to them.
I know there are warnng signs and they are ignored and the ball is dropped, but in the cases it is a family member who is the perp as in the Anthony case, I do not think they could of imagned their daughter actually committing such a heinous crime. I am sure they thought about the what ifs afterwards but it was too late.
In the new case where the foster parents killed the girl twin and doused the twin brother with acid and he is now in the hospital fighting for his life this was a drop the ball by DCF . The lady went there and even said the foster mom did not let her see the kids after the calls came in about them abusing these kids. She left and did nothing. She should be fired. The judge asked the DCF worker what? We don’t work on the weekends? Now it is too late for the twin sister. The other two foster kids were removed from the home and put back into other foster homes. There were family members that wanted custody of these twins and were denied.
It is sometimes peplexing to call DCF and have children removed, because you do not know if you are sending them to even a worse enviroment than they are being removed from, but you just have to take your chances when it involves the best welfare of a child/children.jmo
DCF was called by the school way back on these kids because they showed up at school dirty etc. the red flags should have been in their folders and when this recent event came about DCF should have called LE if the child was not present for them to see. These people also removed the kids from the school… BIG RED FLAG WAVING…JMO
Also when people call DCF to report these incidents and nothing gets done they may think they are causeing more abuse to happen to the child or why bother nothing will happen. People have a hard time getting involved as it is but now when they do nothing changes for the poor kids. jmo
Simon, Great article… and yes, so true.I know you and Jan will always be out there keeping a good eye on things for us all! You are both treasures that we here at BNN truely appreciate
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