GUILTY NJ - Nadirah Ruffin, 19, Atlantic City, 26 March 2011

[webrocket]

I wasn't even aware of Nadirahs case until this thread was bumped with news she was found. It was then I read and wondered why? why did Nadirahs case get so little attention, and why hadn't her family and Phylicia Barnes family combined efforts to bring more attention to both cases? Why was Nadirah selected of those at the location when the robbery occured? Why a mom with a young child who is now motherless?

I don't know those answers. I do know I hope law enforcement continues to follow Nadirah's case and seek the justice she so deserves.

I hope now that she is recovered her story doesn't fade away.... Somehow I had an odd feeling once Nadirah was recovered she went and reached for Phylicia's hand -leading her saying now it is your turn, I will hold your hand through your recovery and your family finding you. Is that strange? Maybe. But those are some thoughts which occured to me the last 72 hours or so.

Thank you Nadirah for leading the way... I pray your story opens more doors for young, not just young but all missing African American females. My thoughts and prayers are with your family and your precious child - that they find peace, answers, justice and the will to move forward.

An interesting blog I found while searching for information on both Nadirah and Phylicia. Worth the read, imo.

http://thebeautifulstruggler.com/2011/04/failsto/

God Bless you Nadirah, sleep peacefully.

sadly the answer is as simple as black and white.

Nadirah's story generated two pages of one thread. Holly Bobo, another woman abducted from her home is up to what, 11 threads now? I'm not saying anything negative about Holly's plight. somehow hers made national news.

what a difference race and socio-economic status made with these two stories. tragic on so many levels.

 

[mikkismom]

"sadly the answer is as simple as black and white.

Nadirah's story generated two pages of one thread. Holly Bobo, another woman abducted from her home is up to what, 11 threads now? I'm not saying anything negative about Holly's plight. somehow hers made national news.

what a difference race and socio-economic status made with these two stories. tragic on so many levels."

Webrocket, I hope that is not true but it may be... One other aspect to look at is the rural (it CAN'T happen here!) vs. urban areas. I started following WS during the issues we have had here in rural OH (Knox Co., Logan Co., and Logan, OH). These crimes were (and are) unfathomable. In Columbus, Cleveland etc., people are victims of crimes everyday - the locals get numb to it. When something like this happens in a rural/small population area, it's personal. It is an assault on 'our way of life'. IMO ALL PEOPLE are valuable! We are 'endowed by our creator certain inalienable rights...'. Not everyone sees things that way (obviously or WS wouldn't exist)!

I guess my point is, why one case gets alot of attention and another doesn't has MANY factors.

JMVHO

 

[webrocket]

"sadly the answer is as simple as black and white.

Nadirah's story generated two pages of one thread. Holly Bobo, another woman abducted from her home is up to what, 11 threads now? I'm not saying anything negative about Holly's plight. somehow hers made national news.

what a difference race and socio-economic status made with these two stories. tragic on so many levels."

Webrocket, I hope that is not true but it may be... One other aspect to look at is the rural (it CAN'T happen here!) vs. urban areas. I started following WS during the issues we have had here in rural OH (Knox Co., Logan Co., and Logan, OH). These crimes were (and are) unfathomable. In Columbus, Cleveland etc., people are victims of crimes everyday - the locals get numb to it. When something like this happens in a rural/small population area, it's personal. It is an assault on 'our way of life'. IMO ALL PEOPLE are valuable! We are 'endowed by our creator certain inalienable rights...'. Not everyone sees things that way (obviously or WS wouldn't exist)!

I guess my point is, why one case gets alot of attention and another doesn't has MANY factors.

JMVHO

therein lies the media bias. whenever harm befalls an attractive young white woman, it is BIG news (think Natalee Holloway) yet bad things happen all the time to people of all racial, ethnic and socio-economic levels. (home invasion abductions should be big news because they are not common.)

I was struck by what a beautiful young woman Nadirah was and the circumstances were shocking, even by Atlantic City standards which is a pretty violent place. even though her family did what they could to get the news out, if media outlets outside Atlantic City, Philadelphia and NJ in general don't pick it up, then the story does not get the publicity it deserved.

this disparity is nothing new. media critics have complained about it for years. the disparity in coverage between Holly Bobo and Nadirah Ruffin was glaring as the two cases happened around the same time in two different parts of the country.

considering there are more media outlets in the Northeast, all things being the same you'd expect Nadirah's story to have been covered more. however, such was not the case.

 

[Filly]

what a difference race and socio-economic status made with these two stories.

There it is, Webrocket. Less we forget the downtrodden as well. The women all found in Egg Harbor probably would have not got a second look unless a serial killer came into play.

The locals in AC are having a rally today for Nadirah. They care. They are marching for Sierra Thomas as well who has been missing since 2002.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_fea85ff0-6d4a-11e0-880f-001cc4c03286.html


RIP pretty Nadirah. Prayers for her family and little one.

 

[Filly]

That's about an hour away from Atlantic City. It looks like they took her to a higher population city where they hoped she would be just another murder victim found, like it would not stand out as it might back in AC or the surrounding towns.

There are toll roads in between AC and Philly, hopefully there will be some camera footage that will be of some use, or records of fast lane/EZ pass type thing that will help.

I wonder if they used Route 9 to bypass the tolls? That or perhaps they kept Nadirah in or around the AC area for a few days.

Here at the link it said due to the curve of the Schuykill Nadirah's body may have travelled over a mile in the water. Thus they speculate she may have been put in the river from the Boulevard. That's not feasible. They couldn't just stop on the Boulevard and throw her body over and if they did they are magicians or invisable.


http://articles.philly.com/2011-04-...nshot-wound-county-prosecutor-theodore-housel



FWIW our "Boulevard" as it's known just by "Boulevard" is actually Route 1 or The Roosevelt Boulevard. That itself is a killer and when it turns into the Schuykill we call it "The Sure Kill". The overpass into the river off the Boulevard is ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hundreds of feet I guess. I'm not certain as I have a severe phobia crossing those "twin" expansion and duck down in my seat.

Traffic is crazy and there's no shoulder on much of the Boulevard so stopping definately would garner attention. They need to figure out where this young lady was put in the river.

Agreeing with GardenLady as it's so sad that indeed many of us here in Philly are numb. It's awful when you pass the TV and hear "Body, river, handcuff" and continue on.

 

[carbuff]

"sadly the answer is as simple as black and white.

Nadirah's story generated two pages of one thread. Holly Bobo, another woman abducted from her home is up to what, 11 threads now? I'm not saying anything negative about Holly's plight. somehow hers made national news.

what a difference race and socio-economic status made with these two stories. tragic on so many levels."

Webrocket, I hope that is not true but it may be... One other aspect to look at is the rural (it CAN'T happen here!) vs. urban areas. I started following WS during the issues we have had here in rural OH (Knox Co., Logan Co., and Logan, OH). These crimes were (and are) unfathomable. In Columbus, Cleveland etc., people are victims of crimes everyday - the locals get numb to it. When something like this happens in a rural/small population area, it's personal. It is an assault on 'our way of life'. IMO ALL PEOPLE are valuable! We are 'endowed by our creator certain inalienable rights...'. Not everyone sees things that way (obviously or WS wouldn't exist)!

I guess my point is, why one case gets alot of attention and another doesn't has MANY factors.

JMVHO

That's a good point about the rural/urban, and also about the regional aspect. Neither Nadirah nor Holly had much coverage up here in New England, but the Long Island serial killer has, partly because Long Island is kinda-sorta-almost-not-quite New England and partly because at least two of the victims were from Connecticut and Maine. Many of the articles have the tone of "the evils of the city intruding in the peaceful farm/resort area." Whereas I think most people around here have the perception that crimes like this happen all the time in Atlantic City. They'd tch-tch over the whole situation but not be particularly concerned with any individual case.

 

[Filly]

Death does not stop Nadirah's loved ones for looking for answers into who abducted and murdered her.




http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_a6cb30ca-6e24-11e0-8d14-001cc4c002e0.html

A poor little guy had to spend Easter without his mommy today.

 

[webrocket]

case in point.

the front page of this website features Holly Bobo.

I realize that only one person can have top billing at one time but does anyone recall if Nadirah's case ever got the front page here?

 

[Snarky247]

It's a sad fact that our society values the life of a beautiful missing blonde girl over the life of a beautiful missing African American girl (and don't even think about a missing unattractive female...you know that's not going to get the media attention!) While I find the stories about Holly Bobo & Natalee Holloway heartbreaking, I am sickened by the fact that I had NO idea about Nadirah's disappearance -- and I visit WS every day.

I wish I knew how to make a change in our culture.

 

[Gardenlady]

Funeral for Nadirah today:

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_82d28430-6f6d-11e0-a8ca-001cc4c002e0.html

Still struck by this:

Ruffin and four other women were at her cousin’s Back Maryland home late March 26 when three men and a woman wearing masks and armed with guns burst into the home, tying the women with duct tape and taking cash. Ruffin was then forced to go with them at gunpoint.

This is really a dramatic, violent scenario that should have had the media all over it from day one. Home invasions usually get a lot of press, over the top type coverage. Nadirah got next to none. :furious: I hope her family, and Sierra Thomas' family do not give up demanding answers.

 

[Gardenlady]

Hundreds attend Nadirahs funeral:

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_82d28430-6f6d-11e0-a8ca-001cc4c002e0.html

I'm glad to hear the following:

"We must not forget justice," Imam Amin Muhammad said as he addressed the hundreds who packed the All Wars Memorial Building Tuesday morning. "We need to find the perpetrators of this crime."

(snip)

"It is impossible that this could have happened and no one saw anything," said Muhammad, of Masjid Muhammad mosque.

A community rally is being planned to help get out information about the attack, said Kaleem Shabazz, president of Masjid Muhammad. "We want to mobilize the people again," he said. A date has not yet been set.

Meanwhile, as Ruffin's family members mourned her, they thought of another family that still doesn't know what happened to their loved one.

On Nov. 21, 2002, Sierra Thomas was taken from the same area in Back Maryland. She, too, was just 19 and a mother.

"At least we have closure," Ruffin's uncle Leon Murray said. "It's not the closure we wanted, but at least it's closure. I pity (Thomas' mother)."

 

[1tasha]

http://www.nbc40.net/news/18400/

The group walked through several neighborhoods spreading their non-violent message including the back Maryland Avenue area where Nadirah Ruffin was abducted in March.

Not the most informative article but it's the only thing that comes up mentioning Nadirah through Google news. So sad.

 

[1tasha]

So sad. I wish everyone could get as much attention as Holly B. But I'm afraid that race and socio-economic status do play a huge part. Nadirah was taken under very dramatic circumstances, like Holly was, so you'd think that would garner some level of media attention. But similar to Antoinetta McKoy and Jadon Higganbotham, therre has been so little coverage of the case. It's hard to follow, hard to brainstorm, look for clues, when no one is even talking about a case.

Like dreamweaver said, at least someone's family will have answers now, with this body being found. RIP

I hadn't really considered the "pretty white girl" theory before, but I can think of no other explanation. I haven't done much of this in the past. Any idea how to sleuth when nobody is talking about this case?

ETA: I guess that would be found in the Things to Do in a New Case or When There's No News thread, LOL. Don't worry I'll crack this whole thing in no time.

 

[Claudette]

Hi - I just wanted to step in and point out that many people don't even get any coverage, regardless of appearance. Many of those cases are here in Websleuths. Do you know about them?

 

[1tasha]

Hi - I just wanted to step in and point out that many people don't even get any coverage, regardless of appearance. Many of those cases are here in Websleuths. Do you know about them?

Hi,

No I didn't mean to imply that media coverage was exclusive to attractive caucasian females. However, it can't really be denied that being those things certainly seems to attract the most attention.

 

[webrocket]

suspects have been identified and are facing federal charges as Nadirah was transported across state lines:

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...cle_3ece6c92-0f2f-11e1-a802-001cc4c03286.html

 

[OkieGranny]

From June 2014:

http://www.nj.com/south/index.ssf/2..._in_2011_kidnapping_death_of_20-year-old.html

An Atlantic City woman was sentenced to 35 years in prison for her part in the revenge robbery and kidnapping that resulted in a 20-year-old's murder.

Shamerria Smith, 27, previously pleaded guilty to use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence in connection with the 2011 death of Nadirah Ruffin...

On March 26, the trio entered Victim One's home and duct taped her, along with Nadirah Ruffin and three other women. Ruffin announced that she recognized Smith's voice... They took 50 bags of marijuana and more than $500 in cash from the house... Smith told her cohorts to take Ruffin from the house. They put her in a green van and drove first to Clementon, then to Philadelphia. Refusing to pull the trigger herself, Smith told the two men they would not leave until someone killed Ruffin. The men took the victim to the banks of the Schuylkill River, where Sanders shot her in the head. Her body was then dumped into the river.

From July 2014:

http://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/t...y-kidnapping-and-murder-case-sentenced-prison

Aziz Sanders, 21, was sentenced to 30 years in prison and DeShawn Hicks, 22, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Each previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to separate, one-count informations charging them with use of a firearm, and aiding and abetting the use of a firearm, in furtherance of a crime of violence – specifically, the Hobbs Act robbery and kidnapping that resulted in the death of Nadirah Ruffin, whose body was found in Philadelphia in April 2011.