The most high-profile missing/murdered girls and women cases of the past 20 years are JonBenet Ramsey, Elizabeth Smart, Natalee Holloway, Laci Peterson, Caylee Anthony, and Madeleine McCann. All of those cases got national attention and are still well-known today. I don't think it is a coincidence that all of those victims are pretty white girls and women from middle class and upper class families. The parents may have started a big campaign to get coverage (which is a lot easier to do when you have money and connections) but why deny that looks do play a part? In your post, you say that Phylicia Barnes' parents were camped outside news stations...why didn't her case get as much coverage as the ones I mentioned? Her case was definitely not covered to the max. JonBenet's parents have never had to beg for coverage.
Your post says that it has to do with how much effort the parents and community put into it. How many parents can afford to travel around Europe like Madeleine McCann's parents? How many parents know someone who will let them borrow a private jet to charter back and forth to Aruba like Natalee Holloway's mother? Elizabeth Smart's parents hired a PR firm. The more money you have, the more education you have, the bigger media campaign you are going to be able to start. If you live in a wealthy community, of course you are going to get more donations. So I have to disagree strongly that the victim's appearance and demographics don't play a part. The circumstances are important too, and they usually relate back to socioeconomic status, like JonBenet being murdered and Elizabeth going missing from huge homes.
JMO.
I'm sorry, but for every JonBenet, Elizabeth, Natalie, Laci, Caylee, Madeline, you have ten more attractive females from similar backgrounds, many who are from upper class backgrounds, and they aren't getting tons of press coverage. Here's a list of very attractive missing women who haven't gotten a lot of press attention: Cassie Compton, Christina Morris, Heather Hodges, Angela Hudson, Crystal Morrison-Prentice, Kate Markham, Karen Swift, Paige Johnson, Rachel Brewer, Alexis Clarkson, Abigail Strong, Jamie Fraley, April Kline, Stacy Lester, Rachel Conger, Shelley Mook, Becky Marzo, Melissa Darling, Megan Nichols, Bailee Plant, Chelsea Bruck, Megan Nichols, Tiffany Whitton, Melinda Denny, Alexandria New, Emily Kohlmeier, Brooklyn Farthing, Brenna Machus, Holly Fischer, Amy Ahonen, Jessica Heeringa, Kira Trevino, Peyton Riekhof, Sarah Townsend
There's also many missing people who have gotten a tremendous amount of press coverage and they weren't in your categories for one reason or another. In fact, several of these cases received just as much attention as Jon Benet, Caylee, Natalie, etc. Here's a laundry list of people who are either:
Non-White
Not female
From an impoverished background
Not highly attractive
Hannah Graham
Jonathan Luna
Relisha Rudd
Chandra Levy
Teleka Patrick
Jessica Lunsford
Steven Stayner
Kyron Horman
Etan Patz
Adam Walsh
Johnny Gosch
Amber Hagerman
Mitrice Richardson
Ashley Pond & Miranda Gaddis
Megan Kanka
Trenton Duckett
Michelle McMullen
Somer Thompson
Samantha Runnion
Erica Pratt
Elizabeth Shoaf
Bianca Lebron
Ray Gricar
Jimmy Ryce
Cherish Perrywinkle
Katie Beers
Alexis Murphy
Shasta Groene
Jennifer Wilbanks
Rilya Wilson
Alexis Patterson
Shawn Hornbeck
Susan Cox Powell
Gina Dejseus
Jahi Turner
Polly Klaas
Amanda Berry
Stacy Peterson
Abigail Hernadez
Skylar Neese
Tabitha Tuders
Katelyn Beard
Karla Rodriquez
Carlesha Freeland-Gaither
Samantha Burns
Joseph Wetterling
Most of the most publicized Maryland disappearances don't involve white, wealthy, or attractive females.
Michelle Rust
Sabrina Aisenburg (parents were from Maryland and there was lots of press attention here on the case)
George Burdynski
William McQuain
Stacy Hoffmaster
Jahi Turner (although this happened in San Diego, it received a lot of press locally)
Susan Hurley
Michelle Dorr
Laura Houghteling
Stephanie Watson
Stephanie Roper
Teresa Lentz
Kate & Sheila Lyon
Christopher Austerman
Destiny and Richie Spicknall
Phylicia Barnes
Marciana Ringo
Josh Ford and Martha Crutchley
Jonathan Luna
Turner Nelson
Nancy Riggins
Alicia Reynolds
Emily Cagal
Robyn Gardner
Christine Sheddy
Sarah Foxwell
Doris Lentz
Shaquita Bell
Alison Thresher
Adam and Jason Shannon
Tracey Tetso
Even in the cases you mentioned, there's reasons why they got so much publicity and it's not necessarily to do with white privilege. All of the cases were unique, and remove a few of the factors and they wouldn't have gotten attention. There's a ton of attractive white women missing, often from upper class backgrounds, who don't make much news cause their case aren't unique. Usually they involve a jealous boyfriend and nothing more.
JonBenet had the elements of a fiction novel. Pageant queen, ransom note, pictures of a child that were way too adult in nature that outraged the public, horrific murder, suspicion of the parents involvement.
Laci Peterson did not get attention cause she was an attractive white female. She got attention cause she happened to live in the town where Chandra Levy's parents, and Chandra's family got a very active missing person organizion involved called the Carol Sund Foundation. The Carol Sund foundation had a number of publicists working for them as volunteers. The case also had some unique qualities about it: pregnant, Christmas time, husband that was caught by the media lying.
Natalie Holloway case got big for the same reason Laci's did. The Carol Sund foundation. There was also other factors: Honor roll student takes off drunk with guys she doesn't know, exotic country, irresponsible chaperones. That doesn't happen every day.
Caylee got attention cause of her mother's antics and lies. Same with the OJ Simpson case.
Elizabeth's Smart case was unique. Most abductions don't involve strangers, and there's very few that ever involve breaking into a house and kidnapping the person and it had the media immediately bringing back the Jon Benet case. It's not every day you have someone doing this at a million dollar home, taken to a canyon and married by a mentally ill person. Nor is it very common for a missing person to be in the public eye under disguise. The family was wealthy, and Elizabeth was pretty, but that wasn't why she got publicity. Had she been abducted on a street by an ex-boyfriend, it wouldn't have made much news.
There's various reasons why some cases get more attention than others.
- Suspicion is on the parents
- Motley Crue put up a huge amount of money and contacted the news about a disappearance
- Serial Killing
- Violent Ex-Convict that was released early
- Child Pedophile victims
- Washington Post Editor
- Sister wrote a book about the murder
- Political reasons such as
Case was used to argue for tougher penalties for child molesters
One in MD became famous years after she died. It was used to fight for mandatory life sentences for murders (at the time murderers were getting 15 year sentences)
Case was used to start the Amber Alert
Case was used to start Sex Offender Registry
Case was used to bring about domestic violence changes
- Killer received dealth penalty
- Attorney who disappeared
- Person made it up
- Child escaped an abductors
- Parents became activists
- Foster Children System Coverup
- Case was horrific
- Involved Sex Trafficking
- Escaped Convicts committed act
- Life Insurance was involved
- Killer never caught
- Marriage Infidelity
- Victim was involved in the sex industry
- Involved International kidnapping