They might not be able to afford a private investigator or take off from work to help look for their child and follow up with law enforcement and the media.Īnd in some cases, they may not know what to do. “If no one knows about it, then no one’s doing anything to find them or to help them get the assistance they need.”įamilies don’t always have the financial resources to respond appropriately when their child is missing. “It puts law enforcement on alert, and they add additional resources to the case,” Wilson said. Even though about a third of all missing children in the FBI’s database were black, they only made up about 20 percent of the missing children cases covered in the news.Ī 2015 study was bleaker: though black children accounted for about 35% of missing children cases in the FBI’s database, they amounted to only 7% of media references.Įxperts say media coverage is vital to helping solve those cases. News media organizations have often been criticized for not giving missing black children the amount of attention they give missing white kids.Ī 2010 study found that black children were significantly underrepresented in TV news. Other families might not report that their child is missing because they fear it could have unintended, negative consequences.įor example, Lowery suspects missing Latino children are underreported because some families with undocumented members might not contact police for fear of being deported. ![]() “You would want someone to speak up to help find them.” “It could be your child, your mother, your father that’s missing,” she said. That distrust contributes to a “silent code of ‘no snitching,’” Wilson said, adding that it is important for people who suspect a child is missing to speak up. “There’s a sense of distrust between law enforcement and the minority community,” said Natalie Wilson, co-founder of the Black and Missing Foundation. Some families are hesitant to contact law enforcement, even if they think their child is missing. Their families are hesitant to call police Here are some reasons experts say we don’t hear more about missing children of color: “I think there’s a false belief that white children make up the biggest number of missing children when in fact (proportionally) it’s just the opposite,” Lowery said, adding that the high number of black girls reported missing is particularly concerning. But the real number, he said, is likely higher. Based on other reports, about 20 percent of missing children are Hispanic or Latino, according to Robert Lowery, vice president of the missing child division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). ![]() The FBI’s report groups white and Hispanic children together. It’s harder to say how many Hispanic kids are missing.
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