Sept 23 2021
Expert: 'Missing white woman syndrome' drives coverage
''Spectrum Bay News 9 examined the case of Keyonna Cole — a mother, sister and friend who has been missing since early 2019.
According to Hernando County detectives, in October of 2018 Cole, who was 5-months pregnant,
was the victim of an attempted homicide. During the attack, she lost her unborn child.
She was set to meet with the state attorney’s office the on Feb. 11, 2019, about the domestic attack, but she disappeared the night before.
Cole hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
Her case remains unsolved and is now considered a cold case.
Christina Voltaire’s family still has more questions than answers too.
According to Winter Haven Police, Voltaire
was last seen at her apartment Jan. 8, 2011. She was reported missing by her estranged boyfriend’s brother. The detective on her case has retired and her disappearance remains unsolved.
If these cases don’t ring a bell, Natalie Wilson with the Black and Missing Foundation says that is no accident.
“This is an opportunity to consider the conversation that media coverage isn’t fair and that law enforcement doesn’t always assist with these cases," she said. "But we’re not picking on the media and law enforcement. I think all of us collectively, we have a role to play."
With her background in media relations and her sister-in-law’s background in law enforcement, they formed the
Black and Missing Foundation in 2008.
“We decided to do some research to see if there’s an issue of missing persons of color getting media coverage, because we definitely did not see ourselves in the media when we’d go missing,” said Wilson.''
