The problem here is that Russell was not walking from a place he worked every day, and was not expected anywhere else at a specific time. The mother and missing son were in two separate states, which confuses matters. In Dru's case, there was a call that was cut off, and then another with static, not a normal conversation that ended properly. Russell hitchhiked a lot and no one knew exactly where he was at any given moment, not even what car he might be in. (He took foolish chances, IMO, by hitchhiking.) The logistics of the cases are completely different.
LE couldn't pin down that there might have been a high risk sex offender near Russell, because they didn't know where he disappeared (if he caught a ride, it could have been anywhere)
To call is a race issue is, once again, ridiculous. That is comparing apples and oranges.
