#MissingDCGirls (2017) trended on Twitter this week. Celebrities, like Taraji P. Henson, Russell Simmons and LL Cool J, tweeted that 14 girls in Washington, DC had gone missing within a single day. It became a top hashtag on Twitter, causing even Fox News to report it.
Last June in New York there were 14 girls missing in the Bronx. Like in the DC case, they all seemed to be Black or Latina.
What is going on? Is there some kind of east coast sex trafficking ring snatching girls off the street? Are they wanted for their organs? What?
As it turns out, both the Bronx and DC cases were an artefact of computers.
In the Bronx case, 11 of the girls were already safe at home: the police had forgotten to update their computers – and the press took the claim at face value.
In the DC case, there never were 14 girls who had disappeared in a single day. That was a rumour spread by Twitter. Instead, the DC police had reported ten cases of missing children since Sunday March 19th. By Friday the 24th, only four were still missing. Even one is one too many, of course, but the numbers have been wildly exaggerated.
The number of missing people in DC has been going down: from 4,531 in 2014, to 3,547 in 2016, to 774 cases so far in 2017, a lower rate than last year.
That “774 cases so far in 2017” sounds horrifying, but most cases are closed within 48 hours. As of March 24th, only 38 of those cases were currently open, six of them girls:
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Shaniah Boyd, since 3/18/2017 
Chareah Payne, since 3/17/2017
Dashann Wallace, since 3/8/2017
Chantese Zimmerman, since 2/16/2017-
Demetria Carthens, since 2/7/2017 
Faith Nelson, since 1/13/2017
All the missing girls so far this year have been runaways, often from domestic abuse. There is, currently, no sex trafficking ring snatching them off the streets.
Over the past ten years in DC there has been no sudden increase in missing children.
What has suddenly increased is the number of tweets by the DC police about missing people. That means they are now finding them more quickly, which is great, but the tweets make it seem like the number of missing people in DC has suddenly gone up – particularly girls since their cases are more likely to be retweeted.
White media: The story has broken through to the White media only because of Twitter. Although the Missing White Woman Syndrome is not as common as it was, say, back in 2004, the press still under-reports missing Black people. Black children account for 33% of the missing, but only 20% of those covered by the press.
Tips from the DC police:
- Keep a current colour photo of your child and a complete description (height, weight, braces, scars, etc). Dental records are important.
- If you think you see a missing person, report it to the police, even if you are not sure.
- If you see a child who should be in school, report it.
- Do not let a child stay overnight at your house without the parents’ permission.
– Abagond, 2017.
Sources: mainly the DC police, NBC4 Washington, Ebony, BBC.
See also:
- DC police:
- The Missing White Woman Syndrome
- Missing Black women:
- Romona Moore
- Mitrice Richardson
- Where was Tamika? – one of my very first posts!
- The Rocky Mount Killer
- Fox News
- Washington, DC
- Russell Simmons
- Taraji P. Henson – Empire
- LL Cool J – Accidental Racist
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Abagond, thank you for this public service effort. I trust you among the most credible bloggers out there, because I have seen enough of your reporting and writing different stories over years to know that you value facts/reality above all else — as so many people have become enamored with equating opinions with fact despite their ongoing lack of objective analysis on many important issues.
I also know from seeing it done, that you are willing to offer corrections when/if needed because your ego is not wedded to being “right” all the time as much as to simply being “real.”
These qualities make you a valuable (obviously human) resource in demonstrating the importance of balance between objectivity and subjectivity. You model this approach well enough to support not just awareness of racial history and how it impacts present issues, but in ways that help benefit overall human progress since fairness, integrity and other values are modeled in your work.
The forum you provide also makes possible room for reasonable discussion, to hear from diverse voices and learn from others.
Thank you.
With gratitude, truly, because I am part of the solution — by pushing back against propaganda and partisan trends attempting to make “alternative facts” legitimate.
That means my willingness to honor and encourage (rather than take for granted) those people and sources who model the best attributes as advocates who help inform the public with the purpose of supporting human decency and systemic equity.
Peace, and blessings for all you do.
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@ Concerned Citizen
Ditto!
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omg on fb everyone is talking about this,
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The only way i learned about this was on black social media sites. If it weren’t for black social media i never would have knowledge of this. The mainstream media never acknowledged this but it’s pretty obvious why. Saw an internet meme on my timeline “Interesting how they could find Tom Brady’s stolen jersey but can’t find these missing black girls.”
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@Concerned Citizen: I second that.
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Thanks for setting the record straight.
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Should I consider this concilation so that I shouldn’t have to worry about my granddaughter coming up missing and somehow she’s back in two days? Or perhaps the same day because she wasn’t abused, but instead, lured off of the internet by some sexually perverted maniac? Does this corrected exaggeration erase the disparity of the parents who were not as fortunate because their child was found dead In some bushes having been raped, with organs missing, or all the above?
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Even the white man is even following black girls home. If you see this sh*t, you need to put a hurt on them real bad. Don’t walk past. Why don’t they ever try me ? Try me. Pick on me Mr White Supremacist. Please
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