Throughout New York, Black women and young girls go missing everyday. Some have never been found. According to the Black And Missing Foundation (BAMFI) database, there are 26 open cases of Black women and girls.
Thousands of people are reported missing in the United States each year. And while not every missing person case will get widespread media coverage, the fight to locate them — whether alive or dead — is always the main priority.
In 2004, speaking at a panel discussion, the late Gwen Ifill characterized the media's approach to covering people who have gone missing as "missing white woman syndrome."
The harrowing account of a woman in Kansas City who was taken captive, and eventually escaped, is once again raising questions about how authorities and the media handle cases of missing Black women.