I think that the missing girl in Utah is a terribly sad story, but I'm wondering why, exactly, it is getting so much attention. No offense to the family or the little girl. I wish all missing child stories got this much attention. But, kids come up missing every day all over the country, many of whom are never found. What made this story get national attention???
Just my guess: It is an abduction case. All the other cases of missing kids usually turn out to be that they ran away or something like that. I remember the girl from Woodlands(?) named Laura (don't recall the last name), her case received just as much attention because it was also an suspected abduction. So I guess that's why..
yeah...i agree..i think it's the thought of someone walking into your home and just taking your kid away from you that adds a different element here.
I'm with Jeff. Kinda like the Chandra Levy thing. It sorta bugs me when the media pays so much attention to one incident when there are others just like it happening at the same moment. I mean....somebody probably got shot on the streets while I was typing this, you know?
Where did you hear that because it isn't true. According to US crime statistics, there are over 500,000 child abductions in the US every year. Over 150,000 are by non-family members. So, if we assume that 350,000 abductions are by jealous parents wanting more visitation rights (highly doubtful, but we'll eliminate them since we don't know what percentage are legitimate kidnappings), that means that there are still 150,000 every year that are legitimate kidnappings.
That's an amazing statistic. I maybe hear about 15-20 in NM on the news. It's sad to hear about those types of cases. It has a lot to do with the politics of the whole deal of a missing child. Everything is about the "politic's" these days which really is extremely too bad. Did you see the size of their house, "Politic's taken into effect again" That's just unfornuately the Opinion I have.
I think there is an interesting community angle here. I mean, a lot of people have helped out and there is news value in that. IMO, the fact that a wealthy white girl was abducted from her bedroom made this national news. Unfortunately, if it was a poor black girl who lived in a tenament building, we'd have never even heard it on local news. What is really a shame is that this little girl deserves much better than the sensationalistic coverage she is getting. She is very likely just a terrified little kid. I hope, if nothing else, the coverage helps her to be rescued. I guess I wish this type of coverage was more common, particularly among people who don't have the resources to look for themselves.
I agree with Jeff about this. I think the race and/or economical standing of those involved greatly affects whether a child abduction case makes national news or not. Unfortunate, but that's the messed up world we live in. Wow, this is a sad thread for me to finally get post #1000 in... But its been a long time coming!
Sorry, but there is no way that 500,000 children a year are abducted. I would love to see who put out that statistic. 500,000 a year = 41,666 a month That translates to around 4000 abductions a month for Texas, figuring the population of our state as compared to the nation. Our Metropolitan area should average around 400 a month using these figures. The reason the young girl in Utah is getting so much attention is that the abduction of a child by a stranger is a fairly rare occurance.
From the National Center for Missing Children: <i>114, 600 children are victims of attempted non-family abduction. 3,200-4,600 are victims of legal definition abduction by non-family members. 139,100 children are classified as lost, injured or otherwise missing. Many times a child is entered into this category when there is no proof of an abduction, however, many have become victims of exploitation; violent crimes; homicide or considered long term missing.</i> This was from 1998 based on yearly averages. Remember that a BIG number are abductions by family members, many of which are cases of custody or some other form of family issue. Yes, some of these numbers are runaways or abuse victims, but it is hard to ignore the really high number of abductions as compared to the media coverage of the issue.
I agree about...it's mostly about the money. A nice neighborhood, a million dollar mansion, a security system(which was off), a white girl(family), and a stranger invading a mansion to abduct are the reason it is getting so much attention. Now, if it had been a run down neighborhood, a $20K shack, no security system, a black girl(family), and a stranger invading the house to abduct....we would have most likely never even heard about it. That's the sad truth. Surf
I think we also have a problem in our society with Non Profit groups exaggerating problems in order to get your money. Whether the cause is the homeless, Global Warming, or missing children, these groups mislead the public in order to scare up donation money. Unfortunately for the missing children, I think many good people would never donate money to a group that would make the claim that 1 out of every 600 Americans will be an abducted child next year. This is intellectually insulting, and they ought to be ashamed of the tactics they use to maintain their salaries within their non-profit shell. A JUSTICE DEPARTMENT STUDY conducted by David Finkelhor of the University of New Hampshire shows that the attorney general's tally of 440,000 missing includes children missing for a "few minutes to overnight." According to an analysis of the Justice Department figures by the Statistical Assessment Service, an independent organization that examines research findings, 19 percent of the "lost" children misunderstood parental instructions; another 12 percent forgot the time. In all, 73 percent of those lost were home within 24 hours. Among runaways, STATS reports, half returned home within two days, and 73 percent of parents were aware of their child's location. Those most closely associated with missing children also dispute the attorney general's claims. Once a supporter of inflated figures, Louis McCagg, director of Child Find, the nation's oldest missing children organization, estimates that 600 children annually are the victims of stranger abduction, not 4,600 as the Justice Department maintains. Even if 440,000 children were missing each year, only a fraction of these cases would fall under federal jurisdiction. "It's sad to say," says John Gill, director of Children's Rights of New York, "but some organizations are exaggerating the figures to make their cause seem more urgent."... http://www.stats.org/statswork/missing.html
I could not disagree more with the above statement. Your post is racially divisive, and you should offer examples to back up your assertion.
tb: You ever hear the story of the little black girl in Houston who was abducted from the back of a car at a Stop n' Go a few years ago? How about the Hispanic girl abducted and killed in Houston two years ago? I don't remember either of those making the national news and the second one was a girl who was abducted in front of her school. There are poor WHITE kids that don't this kind of press either. This is a case of a well-organized, wealthy family buying the coverage - not literally, but metaphorically because they have connections. I don't blame them. I would too. But, this is WAY out of proportion from coverage of abductions throughout the United States.
Wasn't the big "missing person" case immediately before this a poor black girl from Florida? That was the case where the Florida government basically "lost" her and gave her to someone they weren't supposed to? I'm not sure what makes a particular case "big news" but I agree that it's interesting that random cases can blow up while a similar case may get no national attention.
Symbolism. They can't cover every case on a national level, so they pick those that represent certain hot points with the public. I seriously doubt that the Smart family is buying any of this coverage. Some, I'm sure, are offering to pay them for details.
They can't cover every case on a national level, so they pick those that represent certain hot points with the public. The side-effect of this is that those cases get far more "effort" in trying to solve them. There are tons of investigators and press conferences and what-not on this particular case. Other missing kids cases don't get nearly the same amount of effort and attention paid to solving them. It also happened with Chandry Levy (although that involved a Congressman) and with the baby beauty queen murder in Colorado (I can't remember her name for some reason).
