A good article about the missing person "crisis" in the U.S. (written by a media source in the UK) especially this particular quote:
"America has a terrible missing persons problem. You might even call it a crisis. According to the FBI's National Crime Information Centre, there were 840,279 missing person entries in 2001 of which, horrifyingly, 85-95 per cent were juveniles. (In the UK, 200,000 people are reported missing every year, although the two figures are not properly comparable because they are compiled in different ways.) And this figure includes only those who have someone who cares enough to notice that they are gone; the reality could be far worse. But were you unaware of these numbers, the situation would still be impossible to ignore, even for the casual visitor. I do not visit America often but I was in the country when Chandra Levy, 24, a former federal intern, went missing (her disappearance in 2001 was widely reported thanks to her relationship with a congressman; her remains were found a year later in a Washington park). I was there, too, last year, when 27-year-old Laci Peterson disappeared in California (her husband, Scott, is now standing trial for her murder and that of her unborn child). And only last week, I saw the 'amber alert' signs on a Texas freeway asking drivers to look out for 12-year-old Jami Hicks from Mesquite, who had been abducted by her violent stepfather. (Jami is now safe and well.)"
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Life without Rachel - TX
When Rachel Cooke found her namesake on the net, she came across a family tragedy: another Rachel Cooke had vanished from her home in Texas three years earlier. The Observer writer went to America to meet a family left devastated by their loss, and discovered that Rachel is only one of the many thousands of young Americans who disappear each year
Sunday September 19, 2004
The Observer
FROM:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1307571,00.htmlThe Northlake subdivision of Georgetown, some 45 minutes north of Austin, Texas, is as quiet as quiet can be. These few wide streets, named after native American tribes, are roads to nowhere; a driver has no business here unless he is a resident or a visitor. The houses - low-slung, wooden affairs with porches and swings and basketball hoops - are set back from the road and languish in several acres. Out front, on expansive drives and behind picket fences, you see the usual shiny SUVs (Chevys so big, you could live in them) but only rarely their owners, especially on weekdays. Most people here commute into Austin every morning, where they have jobs in the hi-tech industries that have brought the city fresh affluence. A dog barks. Crickets whirr. Otherwise, the only sound to be heard is that of the raspy Texas wind blowing through the long grass.
Until last month, number 224, Navajo Trail was home to the Cooke family. They had their dream house built almost two decades ago, to their own specifications, and loved it for its tranquillity and spaciousness. Robert, like his neighbours, is a commuter; he is a software engineer for IBM. Janet teaches English at a nearby high school. Northlake, they decided, was a good place in which to bring up their two daughters, Rachel and JoAnn. Robert comes from a big, close-knit Texas family, and Navajo Trail was soon the holiday destination of choice for his relatives. On Labour Day and at Thanksgiving, the clan would celebrate with a big barbecue in the Cookes' very own three acres. 'It was wonderful,' says Robert's sister, Elaine Hettenhausen, as we drive by the house. 'It was in the countryside, a real low crime area, and the girls had their own bedrooms.' She slows down the car. 'See the fence? Janet built that herself, the traditional way.'
<SNIP>
What is the point of my post, you may ask, since it so clearly seems not to be political, and thus not really DU material in any way, shape, or form?
What is the point of ANY post, but to inform and/ or create discussion. Missing persons deserve as much democratic consideration and justice as any other person.
Personally, I think they deserve it more so, because their voices (unless they are a young white college kid or white clean-cut mostly female rich person - for example, Smart, Sjodin, Levy, Peterson, Hacking etc. - the article actually proves my point here) are rarely heard from or written about or acknowledged in any way shape or form.
Do you know how many persons went missing in California at about the same time as Laci Peterson? Two that I know of specifically. One was hispanic (and also pregnant and also found murdered not too long AFTER Laci) and another was a prostitute, but guess which was talked about incessantly by the media?
And finally, missing persons and serial killers are an example of why the budgets of LE (both here in the U.S and abroad) should be raised (and NOT just for homeland security) which is A VERY POLITICAL subject - in my opinion,
d
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