https://nypost.com/2018/07/31/missing-college-student-is-one-of-dozens-to-disappear-this-month/
"A 20-year-old college student missing in Iowa is one of 48 young people who have vanished in the state this month, according to reports.
The seemingly alarming number of missing persons cases has sparked widespread panic on social media and a flood of conspiracy theories as the search intensifies for Mollie Tibbetts, who was last seen July 19.
“40 people have gone missing in Iowa in 10 days. 40. People. How is this possible ?!!!!!!!!!!!?!” posted one person on Facebook, adding: “keep tabs on your friends and family, be aware of everything and everyone around you.”
In Iowa, 48 juveniles have gone missing this month. Why that number may be misleading.
"SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — As the search for a missing University of Iowa student continues, much has been made of a startling statistic on missing persons in that state.
Forty-eight Iowa juveniles have gone missing so far in July, a development that has sparked a flood of social media warnings and theories. However, that number becomes less shocking in a review of missing persons statistics.
Heavy regional news coverage of the disappearance of Mollie Tibbetts, 20, of Brooklyn, Iowa, about 60 miles east of Des Moines, has led to more focus on missing children. While a missing child is certainly cause for worry, concern has morphed into rumors that make it appear as though every child who goes missing is the victim of abduction or sex trafficking."
"While sex trafficking may not be the cause of every missing person case in either Iowa or South Dakota, it is a problem. The National Human Trafficking Hotline recorded 74 reports of human trafficking of all ages in Iowa in 2017 while 16 reports of human trafficking were made in South Dakota in the same year.
Nationally, more than 8,500 cases were called into the hotline in 2017. A little more than three-quarters were sex trafficking; much of the rest was labor trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery that includes forced labor."
"A 20-year-old college student missing in Iowa is one of 48 young people who have vanished in the state this month, according to reports.
The seemingly alarming number of missing persons cases has sparked widespread panic on social media and a flood of conspiracy theories as the search intensifies for Mollie Tibbetts, who was last seen July 19.
“40 people have gone missing in Iowa in 10 days. 40. People. How is this possible ?!!!!!!!!!!!?!” posted one person on Facebook, adding: “keep tabs on your friends and family, be aware of everything and everyone around you.”
In Iowa, 48 juveniles have gone missing this month. Why that number may be misleading.
"SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — As the search for a missing University of Iowa student continues, much has been made of a startling statistic on missing persons in that state.
Forty-eight Iowa juveniles have gone missing so far in July, a development that has sparked a flood of social media warnings and theories. However, that number becomes less shocking in a review of missing persons statistics.
Heavy regional news coverage of the disappearance of Mollie Tibbetts, 20, of Brooklyn, Iowa, about 60 miles east of Des Moines, has led to more focus on missing children. While a missing child is certainly cause for worry, concern has morphed into rumors that make it appear as though every child who goes missing is the victim of abduction or sex trafficking."
"While sex trafficking may not be the cause of every missing person case in either Iowa or South Dakota, it is a problem. The National Human Trafficking Hotline recorded 74 reports of human trafficking of all ages in Iowa in 2017 while 16 reports of human trafficking were made in South Dakota in the same year.
Nationally, more than 8,500 cases were called into the hotline in 2017. A little more than three-quarters were sex trafficking; much of the rest was labor trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery that includes forced labor."
