"Even if this case is, in fact, not a legitimate case of someone missing, this is still a very important issue. And Black women still need the type of attention that this young woman got," said Cheryl Neely, a professor of sociology at Oakland Community College in Michigan. "There are in fact young women who are missing and in danger."
Last year, Black women and girls made up approximately
18% of all missing persons cases despite accounting for about
7% of the population, according to data from the National Crime Information Center and U.S. Census Bureau.
"Those statistics just hit really hard. It's really alarming," said Treva Lindsey, a writer and professor of women's studies at The Ohio State University.
"This is what we know when it's been reported to law enforcement, so even that data still probably underestimates the reality of Black women and girls missing – and girls and women missing broadly," Lindsey said.
Families who bring cases of missing Black women and girls to law enforcement often receive pushback and face responses such as "maybe she ran off with a boyfriend," said Neely, who researches and writes about media and police responses to cases of missing and murdered Black women.
"We're still getting information, but police seem to be intimating that this may have been a hoax – that she may have manufactured her disappearance," Neely said. "If that is in fact, true, that is most disheartening because it is rare that Black women get this kind of attention when they are in fact missing or victims of foul play. So this kind of sets us back."
The case of Alabama woman Carlee Russell captivated the nation this week and put a spotlight on missing Black women and girls in the United States.
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