Carlee Russell.Photo:HOOVER (AL) POLICE DEPARTMENTExperts tell PEOPLE that whileCarlee Russell’s tale of being kidnapped turned out to be a hoax, most kidnapping claims aren’t — and they worry the high-profile nature of Russell’s case might result in the public hesitating to believe legitimate claims, especially those from Black women.Overwhelmingly, the experts add, the majority of women whose cases are not covered, and whose stories are not believed, are Black women.“There’s so many Black women and young girls that are missing. We are grateful that the media is talking about this issue and is shedding light on it, but we cannot turn a blind eye to this issue,” Natalie Wilson, co-founder of theBlack & Missing Foundation, tells PEOPLE.Wilson says that the impetus to start her organization came whenTamika Huston, a 24-year-old Black woman, went missing in 2004 — and the case received scant media attention.Months later, the missing persons case ofJennifer Wilbanks, who was White, became one of the biggest stories of the year. It was later revealed that Wilbanks simply ran away to avoid her wedding, and she became dubbed the “Runaway Bride.“A few months later,Natalee Hollowayvanished on a class trip to Aruba, and the case became one of the most highly-publicized missing persons cases in recent history.“Tamika’s aunt went to those same reporters, same networks, same programs, and was met with silence,” says Wilson. “So we cannot be silent on this issue because there are a staggering number of people of color who have disappeared. When families come to us, it’s typically [that] we are their last resort. They need help. They’re not getting the media coverage because typically, our cases remain under the radar. They’re not getting resources from law enforcement, and as a result, there is no community engagement to help find them.”According to the FBI, Black Americans made up 37 percent of missing persons in the country, despite only being 14% of the population.And while there is no concrete data on false reports, “the vast majority of missing persons cases that get reported to police are not hoaxes,” Zach Sommers, a criminologist and attorney, tells PEOPLE.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.In 2016, Sommers released a report titled“Missing White Woman Syndrome,”which concluded that missing White women receive a disproportionately large share of news coverage.He says the fact that Russell’s case turned out to be a hoax is detrimental to the goal of having the cases of missing Black women receive equal attention. Hoaxes, he says, stick in the minds of news consumers, with people wondering what the hoaxer’s motivations are.“When we have a Black woman who is finally getting a lot of attention for going missing, and there’s been a lot of people spending a lot of time and effort trying to increase the visibility of missing Black and Indigenous people and especially women, there’s, I think, a very real and legitimate concern that, ‘We’re finally getting to the point where we’re getting coverage and then this happens where it’s a Black woman who wasn’t actually missing,'” he says. “Then the concern becomes generalizing from this case to other cases, which isn’t fair.”
Carlee Russell.Photo:HOOVER (AL) POLICE DEPARTMENT
HOOVER (AL) POLICE DEPARTMENT
Experts tell PEOPLE that whileCarlee Russell’s tale of being kidnapped turned out to be a hoax, most kidnapping claims aren’t — and they worry the high-profile nature of Russell’s case might result in the public hesitating to believe legitimate claims, especially those from Black women.Overwhelmingly, the experts add, the majority of women whose cases are not covered, and whose stories are not believed, are Black women.“There’s so many Black women and young girls that are missing. We are grateful that the media is talking about this issue and is shedding light on it, but we cannot turn a blind eye to this issue,” Natalie Wilson, co-founder of theBlack & Missing Foundation, tells PEOPLE.Wilson says that the impetus to start her organization came whenTamika Huston, a 24-year-old Black woman, went missing in 2004 — and the case received scant media attention.Months later, the missing persons case ofJennifer Wilbanks, who was White, became one of the biggest stories of the year. It was later revealed that Wilbanks simply ran away to avoid her wedding, and she became dubbed the “Runaway Bride.“A few months later,Natalee Hollowayvanished on a class trip to Aruba, and the case became one of the most highly-publicized missing persons cases in recent history.“Tamika’s aunt went to those same reporters, same networks, same programs, and was met with silence,” says Wilson. “So we cannot be silent on this issue because there are a staggering number of people of color who have disappeared. When families come to us, it’s typically [that] we are their last resort. They need help. They’re not getting the media coverage because typically, our cases remain under the radar. They’re not getting resources from law enforcement, and as a result, there is no community engagement to help find them.”According to the FBI, Black Americans made up 37 percent of missing persons in the country, despite only being 14% of the population.And while there is no concrete data on false reports, “the vast majority of missing persons cases that get reported to police are not hoaxes,” Zach Sommers, a criminologist and attorney, tells PEOPLE.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.In 2016, Sommers released a report titled“Missing White Woman Syndrome,”which concluded that missing White women receive a disproportionately large share of news coverage.He says the fact that Russell’s case turned out to be a hoax is detrimental to the goal of having the cases of missing Black women receive equal attention. Hoaxes, he says, stick in the minds of news consumers, with people wondering what the hoaxer’s motivations are.“When we have a Black woman who is finally getting a lot of attention for going missing, and there’s been a lot of people spending a lot of time and effort trying to increase the visibility of missing Black and Indigenous people and especially women, there’s, I think, a very real and legitimate concern that, ‘We’re finally getting to the point where we’re getting coverage and then this happens where it’s a Black woman who wasn’t actually missing,'” he says. “Then the concern becomes generalizing from this case to other cases, which isn’t fair.”
Experts tell PEOPLE that whileCarlee Russell’s tale of being kidnapped turned out to be a hoax, most kidnapping claims aren’t — and they worry the high-profile nature of Russell’s case might result in the public hesitating to believe legitimate claims, especially those from Black women.
Overwhelmingly, the experts add, the majority of women whose cases are not covered, and whose stories are not believed, are Black women.
“There’s so many Black women and young girls that are missing. We are grateful that the media is talking about this issue and is shedding light on it, but we cannot turn a blind eye to this issue,” Natalie Wilson, co-founder of theBlack & Missing Foundation, tells PEOPLE.
Wilson says that the impetus to start her organization came whenTamika Huston, a 24-year-old Black woman, went missing in 2004 — and the case received scant media attention.
Months later, the missing persons case ofJennifer Wilbanks, who was White, became one of the biggest stories of the year. It was later revealed that Wilbanks simply ran away to avoid her wedding, and she became dubbed the “Runaway Bride.”
A few months later,Natalee Hollowayvanished on a class trip to Aruba, and the case became one of the most highly-publicized missing persons cases in recent history.
“Tamika’s aunt went to those same reporters, same networks, same programs, and was met with silence,” says Wilson. “So we cannot be silent on this issue because there are a staggering number of people of color who have disappeared. When families come to us, it’s typically [that] we are their last resort. They need help. They’re not getting the media coverage because typically, our cases remain under the radar. They’re not getting resources from law enforcement, and as a result, there is no community engagement to help find them.”
According to the FBI, Black Americans made up 37 percent of missing persons in the country, despite only being 14% of the population.
And while there is no concrete data on false reports, “the vast majority of missing persons cases that get reported to police are not hoaxes,” Zach Sommers, a criminologist and attorney, tells PEOPLE.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
In 2016, Sommers released a report titled“Missing White Woman Syndrome,”which concluded that missing White women receive a disproportionately large share of news coverage.
He says the fact that Russell’s case turned out to be a hoax is detrimental to the goal of having the cases of missing Black women receive equal attention. Hoaxes, he says, stick in the minds of news consumers, with people wondering what the hoaxer’s motivations are.
“When we have a Black woman who is finally getting a lot of attention for going missing, and there’s been a lot of people spending a lot of time and effort trying to increase the visibility of missing Black and Indigenous people and especially women, there’s, I think, a very real and legitimate concern that, ‘We’re finally getting to the point where we’re getting coverage and then this happens where it’s a Black woman who wasn’t actually missing,'” he says. “Then the concern becomes generalizing from this case to other cases, which isn’t fair.”
source: people.com
