Black and missing in America: Where is the coverage?

theGRIO REPORT - Local authorities are asking for the public’s help as they attempt to track down Nicole Goodlett, who was first reported missing on March 12, 2014 by her parents in Spartanburg, South Carolina...

willjwrightblog

Jun 12, 2014

When nearly 300 Nigerian school girls were kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram and went missing in April, the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls became a rallying call to draw attention to the crime and to demand action.

Nations, including the United States, sent resources to Africa in hopes of finding those girls while every day, here in America, scores of black people go missing with little or no fanfare or calls to action.

The National Crime Information Center reports that more than 270,000 minorities have been reported missing since 2010. Almost half of that number is made up of African-Americans, and roughly 64,000 are African-American girls and women.

Missing persons activists call upon the media to offer more attention and focus on missing people of color. Dateline NBC’s initiative “Missing in America” recently posted the story behind the disappearance of Nicole Goodlett.

Goodlett was first reported missing by her parents on March 12, 2014. Goodlett, who is called Alazay or Zay by friends, suffers from depression. Her parents do not believe she has her medication with her and are duly concerned for her safety.

Goodlett is 5’10” tall, weighs 130 pounds and wears her hair both curly and straight. Investigators believe that Goodlett may be the victim of foul play but cannot give more information about that belief without compromising their investigation.

Jerald Howard, Goodlett’s boyfriend, has been identified as a person of interest in the case. Howard dropped their twin girls at his parents’ home after she went missing and has been back and forth since. No charges against him have been filed, but they would like to speak with him about the case. The twins are now in the Department of Social Services’ custody, while her 5-year-old son is with Goodlett’s parents.

Local authorities in Spartanburg, NC, are asking for the public’s help as they attempt to find Nicole Goodlett and asks that, if you know where to find Howard or Goodlett, please call 1-888-CRIME-SC.

In certain cases, children go missing after criminal acts against their parents. Police in Detroit are asking the public for help in finding the children of Alicia Fox, whose badly decomposed body was found Monday night in an abandoned house. A relative, reportedly responding to an anonymous tip, found the body. An autopsy showed Fox was shot twice in the head.

As police investigate the slaying, they are looking for 6-year-old Kaylah Hunter and 6-month-old Kristian Justice. The children and their mother were last seen around May 24. “Missing posters” that included their photos were taped on the porch of the family’s home in northwest Detroit.

“What’s most important is locating the children,” Police Chief James Craig told reporters Tuesday. “We’re doing everything we can.” The FBI and Michigan State Police also were involved in the search.

And then there are cases that go cold. TheGrio reported on the disappearance of 35-year-old Shandell McLeod, a Georgia woman who was last seen outside her house located in a quiet suburban neighborhood in Lithonia on the 24th of September, 2011.

The detective H. Guest who is working on the case in DeKalb County says she is a single, professional, career-orientated woman with no criminal record, and her disappearance is completely uncharacteristic. He told theGrio that he is still working the case and still hopes for a break. Anyone with information about Shandell McLeod’s disappearance, please contact Detective H. Guest on 770-724-7866 or visit www.BAMFI.org and click on “Tip Line.”

The Black and Missing Foundation is an organization committed to focusing on cases where black people have been abducted and in many instances get little or no attention. In their message to visitors on their site, co-founders Derrica Wilson and Natalie Wilson have posted the following message:

At Black and Missing Foundation, Inc., (BAM FI) we believe that every missing person, regardless of age, race, mental ability or circumstance, deserves awareness.

Families with a missing loved one cling to hope. Hope that their loved one will return home. Hope that law enforcement will be proactive. Hope that the media will get involved. Hope that members of the community will come forward with vital information to bring their loved one home.”