Revision as of 04:37, 7 June 2007 editMartinBot (talk | contribs)190,136 editsm BOT - rv ChorizoLasagna (talk) to last version by 128.61.61.101← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 21:58, 19 December 2024 edit undoBetty Logan (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers78,452 edits Undid revision 1263609425 by KabirDH (talk) Unsourced. Please provide a source which cites the case as an example of MWWS.Tag: Undo | ||
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{{short description|Term for increased media coverage}} | |||
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{{Original research}} | |||
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'''Missing white woman syndrome''' is a term used by some ]<ref name=Sommers>{{cite journal |first=Zach |last=Sommers |title=Missing White Woman Syndrome: An Empirical Analysis of Race and Gender Disparities in Online News Coverage of Missing Persons |date=Spring 2016 |journal=] |volume=106 |issue=2 |pages=275–314 |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7586&context=jclc |access-date=May 16, 2017}}</ref><ref name=Liebler/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Lundman|first=R.J.|title=The Newsworthiness and Selection Bias in News About Murder: Comparative and Relative Effects of Novelty and Race and Gender Typifications on Newspaper Coverage of Homicide|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1025713518156|journal=Sociological Forum|volume=18|issue=3|pages=357–386|doi=10.1023/A:1025713518156|year=2003|s2cid=141625288}}</ref> and media commentators to denote perceived disproportionate media coverage, especially on television,<ref name=parks>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/03/diagnosing-missing-white-woman.html |title=Diagnosing 'Missing White Woman Syndrome' |first=Tom |last=Foreman |date=March 14, 2006 |quote=There is no polite way to say it, and it is a fact of television news. Media and social critics call the wall-to-wall coverage that seems to swirl around these events, 'Missing White Woman Syndrome'. That was the phrase invoked by Sheri Parks, a professor of American studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, during our interview yesterday.|publisher=]}}</ref> of ] cases toward white females as compared to males, or females ]. Supporters of the phenomenon posit that it encompasses supposed disproportionate media attention to females who are young, attractive, white, and upper middle class.<ref name="Robinson">{{cite news|title=(White) Women We Love|date=June 10, 2005|first=Eugene |last=Robinson|newspaper=]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901729.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517131451/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901729.html |archive-date=May 17, 2008 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="MMCR" /><ref name="Armstrong2013">{{cite book|author=Cory L. Armstrong|title=Media Disparity: A Gender Battleground |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yW7qAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA21|year=2013|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-8188-1|page=21}}</ref> Although the term was coined in the context of missing-person cases, it is sometimes used of coverage of other violent crimes. The phenomenon has been highlighted in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and other predominantly white countries, as well as South Africa.<ref name=SABC3>{{cite web|title=Oscar Pistorius: The Verdict|url=http://www.sabc3.co.za/sabc/home/sabc3/news/details?id=14721d18-cc3f-42ff-bb32-aea285edbe09&title=Special%20Assignment|access-date=October 21, 2014|publisher=SABC|date=September 12, 2014|archive-date=April 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422185747/http://www.sabc3.co.za/sabc/home/sabc3/news/details?id=14721d18-cc3f-42ff-bb32-aea285edbe09&title=Special%20Assignment|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Alison |last=Mau |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/109365685/ali-mau-why-we-grieve-for-grace-millane-and-not-others |title=We've all had the chance to mourn Grace Millane, but the court denies this other slain woman that humanity |work=Stuff.co.nz |date=December 16, 2018}}</ref> | |||
{{journalism}} | |||
'''Missing white woman syndrome''' (MWWS), also known as '''missing pretty girl syndrome,'', also known as "Georgia Tech", is a term used to describe disproportionate media coverage of ] female victims. The individual may be ], ]ed, captured, or even have faked her own abduction (see ]); the essential element of the syndrome is that her gender, race, prettiness, age, or social background is alleged to have extended the media coverage and public interest in her case. | |||
Despite the popularity of the term "missing white woman syndrome," there have been few empirical studies examining the subject.<ref name="Slakoff" /> According to a single 2019 study, gender was a significant factor in media coverage of missing person cases. The study found that female victims receive more coverage overall, and national and out-of-state attention is even more skewed towards representing women. The 2019 study also found missing person cases involving ] received more media attention than those involving ].<ref name="Slakoff" /> However, the authors also reported that non-black ] (such as ] and ]) are just as over-represented as white women in news coverage, suggesting that the misnomer of "missing white woman syndrome" is rather a function of the under-representation of ] in media cases.<ref>{{harvnb|Slakoff|Fradella|2019|p=85|ps=: "As Table 2 illustrates, missing black girls and women accounted for 19.59% of news stories in the research sample even though they are estimated to account for 33.84% of missing persons. This disparity of more than 14 percentage points demonstrates that the media continue to underreport stories about missing black women and girls. Conversely, missing white girls and women are overrepresented in news stories by 8.81%, and missing women and girls from other racial backgrounds are similarly overrepresented by 8.63%."}}</ref> Analysis has also found that missing women are twelve times more likely than missing men to receive attention in Louisiana, despite men and women going missing at similar rates nationally.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jennifer |last=Musial |chapter=25: Pregnant and Disappeared – The Missing White Woman Syndrome in Magazines |editor-first1=Karen |editor-last1=Boyle |editor-first2=Susan |editor-last2=Berridge |title=The Routledge Companion to Gender, Media and Violence |year=2023 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |doi=10.4324/9781003200871-30 |isbn=978-1-000-91935-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-0PREAAAQBAJ&pg=PT234 |access-date=February 13, 2024}}</ref> | |||
There is a perception among the Western public that excessive news coverage is devoted to specific ] or ]ed ] or "]" ] and ]s, especially blondes, while cases involving missing men, non-caucasian women, older or unattractive caucasian women, or other news stories receive disproportionately less airtime. Reporting of these "missing white woman" stories may last for weeks or months and displace reporting on other current events. Examples of excessive focus on missing caucasian women can be found worldwide.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} However, it has been most prevalent in U.S. media, particularly on 24-hour cable news channels. | |||
The phenomenon has led to a number of ] measures, mainly on the ], that were named for white women who disappeared and were subsequently found harmed.<ref>{{cite thesis |first=Sarah Land |last=Stein |publisher=University of Southern Mississippi |year=2012 |title=The Cultural Complex of Innocence : an Examination of Media and Social Construction of Missing White Woman Syndrome |type=PhD thesis |id={{ProQuest|1113331344}} |url=http://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/858/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Laurie |last=Essig |date=2014|title=Racial Politics in the US and the Figure of the White Lady. One way to understand the senseless killings of Black men is through the 'lady'|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/social-studies/201412/racial-politics-in-the-us-and-the-figure-the-white-lady|website=Psychology Today |access-date=October 9, 2017}}</ref> In addition to race and class, factors such as supposed attractiveness, body size, and youthfulness have been identified as unfair criteria in the determination of newsworthiness in coverage of missing women.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Moody, M.|author2=Dorries, B.|author3=Blackwell, H.|date=2008|title=The Invisible Damsel: Differences in How National Media Outlets Framed the Coverage of Missing Black and White Women in the Mid-2000s|publisher=Conference Papers – International Communication Association|pages=1–23|url=http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p232099_index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150309063731/http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/3/2/0/9/p232099_index.html |archive-date=March 9, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> News coverage of missing black women was more likely to focus on the victim's problems, such as abusive boyfriends, criminal history, or drug addiction, while coverage of white women often tended to focus on their roles as mothers, daughters, students, and contributors to their communities.<ref>{{cite web|author=Cheryl L. Neely|date=2015|title=African American Women as Victims of Violence – How do news stories affect our perception of crimes against women from different racial backgrounds?|url=http://www.utne.com/media/african-american-women-victims-of-violence-ze0z1512zdeh|website=Utne Reader |access-date=October 9, 2017}}</ref> | |||
==Outline of News Media Involvement== | |||
* A typical case involves 24-hour cable ] providing regular daily coverage of any and all developments, accompanied by lengthy discussions about the meaning of such developments by the shows' hosts and their guests. (The most notable that currently feature these stories shows hosted by commentators ], ] and ], all featured on 24-hour cable news networks.) Such guests typically have a background in law and are invited by the host to freely speculate about evidence, suspects, and motive. Family pictures and video of the subject are shown frequently and repeatedly, and friends and family of the subject or a ] for them are frequently invited as guests and asked their opinions of the investigation and any evidence or suspects. As a story gains popularity, ] news outlets often pick up on it, many times leading to questionable or unofficial information being reported as hard news. Media critics suggest that this speculation often leads to a ]. | |||
* Those involved in the investigation of the case (]s, ]s, etc.) are invited onto the shows and asked pointed and accusatory questions suggesting that they are incompetent or negligent. Sometimes, the ]s themselves are invited on the shows and asked similarly pointed and accusatory questions. | |||
* If the case drags on for several weeks, the resulting public sympathy often prompts friends and family of the victim to establish a ] with detailed information about the case and a ], first to offer a reward, then, when the case is resolved, to provide ]s or aid to the families of the victims of similar tragedies. Eventually, the case is resolved by the police, the news media gradually lose interest, or else a new, more urgent story comes to dominate coverage. Critics of the media say that very few follow-up stories are done unless major new developments occur. | |||
==Origins and criticism== | |||
===Legacy=== | |||
American news anchor ] is credited with originating the phrase at the ] journalism conference in 2004.<ref name="Armstrong2013"/><ref>{{cite news|title=News Media Can't Shake 'Missing White Woman Syndrome|first=Katie|last=Robertson|date=September 22, 2021|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/business/media/gabby-petito-missing-white-woman-syndrome.html|access-date=September 23, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=User Clip: Gwen Ifill coins the term 'missing white woman syndrome'|date=April 21, 2017|website=C-Span.org|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4666788/user-clip-gwen-ifill-coins-term-missing-white-woman-syndrome|access-date=September 23, 2021}}</ref> At the conference, she said: "I call it the missing white woman search syndrome. If there is a missing white woman we're going to cover that every day."<ref>{{Cite web |title=User Clip: Gwen Ifill coins the term "missing white woman syndrome" {{!}} C-SPAN.org |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4666788/user-clip-gwen-ifill-coins-term-missing-white-woman-syndrome |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=www.c-span.org}}</ref> | |||
Frequently, cases that seem to fit this profile generate enough public interest that legislators are pressured to enact new laws that are meant to protect would-be victims of violent crime. Often, such laws are named or nicknamed for the victim in question. This is often cited by critics as an example of a ]. | |||
] defined the syndrome as "white women occupying a privileged role as violent crime victims in news media reporting", and posited that missing white woman syndrome functions as a type of ] in the cultural imagery of the U.S.<ref name=NYU>{{cite news |date=May 9, 2013 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22441124 |title=Cleveland abductions: Do white victims get more attention? |publisher=BBC News |quote=Charlton McIlwain, professor New York University: White women occupy a privileged role as violent crime victims in news media reporting. |access-date=July 24, 2015}}</ref> ] categorized the racial component of missing white woman syndrome as a "form of racial grammar, through which ] is normalized by ], or even invisible standards".<ref name=Sommers/> | |||
==Examples== | |||
{{cleanup-laundry}} | |||
==Studies, reports and analyses== | |||
===Mentioned by Media=== | |||
===United States=== | |||
In 2003, the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' published an article detailing the disparity between the coverage of the ], and that of Evelyn Hernandez, a Hispanic woman – both of whom disappeared in 2002.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/04/21/MN275651.DTL |title= Eerily similar case languishes in obscurity; Torso of missing pregnant mom was found in S.F. Bay last year |work=] |date=April 21, 2003 |access-date=November 24, 2010 |first=Kelly |last= St. John}}</ref> | |||
A report that aired on ] in 2006 noted the differences in the level of media coverage given to missing white women (such as Laci Peterson and ]), when compared to the level of coverage given to ], a pregnant ] woman. Figueroa disappeared in ] in 2005, the same year Holloway disappeared.<ref name=coverage>{{cite news |date= March 17, 2006 |url= http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0603/17/sbt.01.html |title=Race Bias in Media Coverage of Missing Women?; Cheryl Hines Dishes on New Show |publisher=CNN |quote=: Natalee Holloway, Lori Hacking, Taylor Biehl, the list goes on and on. When pretty white females are killed or disappear, media storms follow. So much so that critics have coined a phrase for it. : Like everybody else, I call it the missing white woman syndrome. |access-date=January 8, 2013}}</ref> | |||
Media critics consider the following cases (in reverse chronological order) to be examples of MWWS: | |||
A 2010 study of news coverage of missing children found that black missing children cases were significantly underrepresented, when compared to national statistics. Missing black girls were significantly underrepresented in national news reporting. The coverage of death cases for black boys was significantly greater than expected. Coverage of non-black female kidnapping cases was greater than expected.<ref>{{cite journal| last= Min| first=Seong-Jae |author2=John C. Feaster|title=Missing Children in National News Coverage: Racial and Gender Representations of Missing Children Cases|journal=Communication Research Reports|date=July–September 2010| volume=27|issue=3|pages=201–216| url= https://www.academia.edu/857391|access-date=May 9, 2013| publisher= Routledge| doi=10.1080/08824091003776289| s2cid=145060673 }}</ref> A subsequent study found that children from ]s, especially black children, were more likely to remain missing for longer periods of time.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rijt|first1=Arnout van de|last2=Song|first2=Hyang-Gi|last3=Shor|first3=Eran|last4=Burroway|first4=Rebekah|date=December 31, 2018|title=Racial and gender differences in missing children's recovery chances|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=13|issue=12|pages=e0207742|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0207742|issn=1932-6203|pmc=6312271|pmid=30596659|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1307742V|doi-access=free}}</ref> | |||
*] (], ]) - is an Overland Park, Kansas, teenager who may have been abducted. Additional surveillance video from Target appears to show someone forcing Kelsey into her car. On the afternoon of June 6, 2007, Kelsey was found murdered near Longview Lake, in Jackson County, Missouri, about a 20 minute drive from her home. | |||
*] (], ]) - missing white, blonde British girl. A number of celebrities and businessmen have offered millions of pounds in reward money, but the story made headlines before the reward was offered. Madeleine has not been found (as of June 6, 2007). | |||
*] (], ]) - married mother of two children aged 4 and 6 from ], ] who disappeared after an argument with her husband. She has since been found murdered and dismembered during a search of the Grant home. Her husband is the only suspect and was arrested and is facing murder charges. | |||
*] (], ]) - 19-year-old college student from ], ] disappeared and was later found dead | |||
*] (], ]) - was an undergraduate at the ] who disappeared walking home to her campus dormitory after a night out with friends. Her body was later found along a road in the neighboring town of ] on ]. ], a construction worker whose cell phone Gardner-Quinn had allegedly borrowed, was charged with her murder. The two were captured walking together on a jewelry store surveillance camera the night of her disappearance. | |||
*] (], ]) - ] major who disappeared in ], reappearing four days later | |||
*] (], ]) - 5-year-old from ] abducted from her neighborhood. The body of the child was found, and a neighbor was arrested for the murder. | |||
*] (], ]) - missing 24-year-old, never reported to her job in ] | |||
*] (], ]) - 17-year-old ] freshman disappeared and was later found dead; murderer convicted | |||
*] (], ]) - 16-year-old American actress who disappeared from her home and was reported missing; found alive at friend's house two weeks later and declared to be a runaway who did not want to be found | |||
*] (], ]) - 25-five year-old ] woman who was reported missing after failing to return home one night. Her body was later found in a nearby rural municipality, after a neighbour turned himself in for her murder. | |||
*] (], ]) - still missing, last known location in Aruba: ''active investigation''. Has become especially controversial because of the great duration of media coverage. | |||
*] (], ]) - found alive, brother killed; kidnapper captured | |||
*] (], ]) - "The ]." Went out for a jog and did not return; there was much media speculation that her fiancé had killed her. Found she had staged her own kidnapping when she was discovered alive several days later and admitted what she had done. | |||
*] (], ]) was a 20 year old ] blonde girl from ], ] who went missing in April 2005. After 4 months her boyfriend confessed the murder to the police. For (in greek). | |||
*] (], ]) - found murdered; murderer convicted | |||
*] (], ]) - found murdered; murderer captured; prompted '']'' | |||
*] (], ]) - abducted from ] parking lot, found dead | |||
*] (], ]) - found murdered; murderer convicted; prompted ''Lori's law'' proposal | |||
*] (] ]) - disappeared after leaving work at ] in ], found dead in 2006; investigation underway | |||
*] (], ]) - still missing, presumed dead; man arrested for murder | |||
*] (], ]) - alleged kidnapping in ]; Seiler admitted faking the kidnapping several days later | |||
*] (], ]) - found murdered; murderer convicted; prompted ''Dru's law'' | |||
*] (]) - found murdered; suspect arrested two years later | |||
*] (], ]) - found murdered; murderer convicted; prompted ] | |||
*] & ] (], ]) - the two British, 10-years-old, school friends were eventually found murdered after a nationwide appeal for their return and wall-to-wall media coverage in the United Kingdom; the murdererer was convicted a year later | |||
*] (], ]) - found murdered; murderer convicted; prompted ''Samantha's law'' proposal | |||
*] (], ]) - found alive; kidnapper found incompetent to stand trial | |||
*] (], ]) - reported missing from ]. Jennifer's body found ] ]. Husband convicted in 2004. | |||
*] (], ]) - missing for several months; decomposed body found and foul play/murder is suspected; cold case | |||
*] ], ] - missing for a year; decomposed body found. The case received enormous coverage in British and Japanese media, even prompting Prime Minister Tony Blair to mention the disappearance in his official visit to Japan. Mizuho Fukushima, a member of Japan's Upper House parliament noted that many Asian women had disappeared previously without note but that "it was news when a white girl disappeared." | |||
*] (], ]) - found murdered; cold case until August 2006 arrest of suspect. Suspect was later exonerated and murder is now considered a cold case again. | |||
*] (], ]) - found murdered; cold case; prompted establishment of ] | |||
*] (], ]) - 27 year old ] news anchor disappeared on her way to work. She was presumed kidnapped. No suspects were tried and her body was never found. | |||
*] (], ]) - found murdered; murderer convicted; prompted '']'' | |||
*] (], ]) - found murdered; murderer convicted; prompted renewal of ] | |||
*] (], ]) - kidnapper confessed sexual assault and murder, but refused to tell where he buried the body | |||
*] (], ]) - 25 year old ] ]. Never found: declared legally dead in ]. Featured heavily in British media. | |||
*] (], ]) - kidnapped by the ] (SLA). On ], ], she was photographed wielding an assault rifle while robbing the Sunset branch of the Hibernia Bank. Later communications from her were issued under the pseudonym '''Tania''' and revealed that she was committed to the goals of the SLA. A warrant was issued for her arrest and in September 1975, she was arrested in an apartment with other SLA members. | |||
*] (], ]) - William Hickman kidnapped and murdered 12-year-old Marian Parker, the daughter of a Los Angeles banker. A few days after being paid a small ransom, Hickman was arrested and tried. On ], ], he became the first American kidnapper to be executed for his crime. | |||
A 2013 study that addressed media coverage of missing children, focusing on sex, but not race, found that "the results revealed that gender and age play only a minor role in deciding which abduction incidents are covered by newspapers, as well as the extent to which they are reported on. Specifically, newspapers dedicated more words to female victims than male victims, and reported more on younger children (aged 11 and under) than older children (aged 12 and over) when they were the victim of a nonfamily abduction."<ref>Taylor J, Boisvert D, Sims B, Garver C. An examination of gender and age in print media accounts of child abductions. Criminal Justice Studies. 2013 Jun 1;26(2):151–67. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1478601X.2012.724683j</ref> | |||
===Examples of alleged bias in missing person cases=== | |||
In 2015, a report was published that re-examined the results from Min and Feaster's 2010 study about media coverage of missing children and confirmed that the media coverage of white missing persons was disproportionate compared to non-whites, but found that the coverage of females was not as biased as the 2010 study concluded.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Simmons |first1=Clara |last2=Woods |first2=Joshua |date=2015-07-03 |title=The Overrepresentation of White Missing Children in National Television News |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08824096.2015.1052898 |journal=Communication Research Reports |language=en |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=239–245 |doi=10.1080/08824096.2015.1052898 |issn=0882-4096}}</ref> | |||
Critics contend the following examples of missing people received disproportionately little coverage compared to MWWS cases: | |||
In 2016, Zach Sommers, a ] at ], published a study explaining that while there is a sizable body of research that shows that white people are more likely than people of color to appear in news coverage as victims of violent crime, there is relatively little when it comes to missing persons cases.<ref name= Sommers /> Sommers cross-referenced the missing persons coverage of four national and regional media outlets against the ]'s missing persons database and found that black people were disproportionately less likely to appear in the news when compared to their rates of missingness; he also found that among those missing persons who appeared in the news, the coverage was much more intense (i.e., more articles were written) for white women and girls than other demographic groups.<ref name="Demby">{{cite news |first=Gene |last=Demby |title=What We Know (And Don't Know) About 'Missing White Women Syndrome' |date=April 13, 2017 |newspaper=] |url= https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/13/523769303/what-we-know-and-dont-know-about-missing-white-women-syndrome |access-date=May 16, 2017}}</ref><ref name=Sommers /> | |||
*] (], ]) - a ] male exchange student. Japanese media cited low coverage in the U.S., comparing it with ], a student who went missing which sparked wide media coverage and police hunt (she later admitted to staging a hoax), as an example of MWWS. | |||
*] (], ]) - 18-year-old woman of ]/] heritage from Philadelphia area whose case became prominent because of an organized Internet ] to counter missing white woman syndrome. On ], ], the body of Figueroa, who was pregnant, was found in ], ]. Charges are pending against Stephen Poaches, the boyfriend of Figueroa. Thanks to her family and friends' pressure, the major networks did aid in breaking the story. | |||
*] (], ]) - 48-year-old male of ] descent and boyfriend of actress ]. Conflicting stories have been reported regarding alleged sightings in Mexico and the possibility that he faked his disappearance to avoid a legal battle with his ex-wife. | |||
*] (], ]) - 13-year-old Hispanic-American girl who disappeared in Norcross, Georgia. | |||
*] (], ]) - Valdez travelled to her school in Hyrum, Utah, to attend a class field trip. Between the time she arrived at the school and the time the students boarded a bus to take them on the field trip, Valdez disappeared. It is believed that Cesar Sanchez, with whom Valdez had an ongoing relationship, may have abducted her. On ], ], the First Judicial District Court, Cache County, Utah, issued an arrest warrant for Sanchez charging him with kidnapping. On ], ], a federal arrest warrant was issued for Sanchez charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. She has been listed as "recovered" on the FBI web site but has received no media attention. | |||
*] (], ]) - 24-year-old black woman who went missing from ], setting off a nearly 15-month search during which time the young woman became a symbol of the lack of national media attention devoted to cases involving missing ]. Huston's body was eventually found, and a man has been sentenced to life in prison after confessing to her murder. | |||
*] (], ]) - 5-year-old black female who went missing after her stepfather dropped her off to school at High Mount Elementary in ]. Her lack of media coverage caused a local controversy, especially within Milwaukee's black community, as Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped only a few weeks later. Patterson still has yet to be found. | |||
*] (], ]) - 25-year-old woman from ], Indiana reported missing after leaving her mother's house. There were reports of two men harassing her at a local laundromat earlier, but no specific leads about the disappearance. Her vehicle was found in ], Ohio. After much speculation, many feel that her case is becoming a cold case. | |||
*] (], ]) - 25-year-old male, black college student. According to ], "Sanders’ case received scant notice outside his small hometown of Rembert, S.C., even though he was a high-achieving student at the University of South Carolina who worked as a technician in the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, and despite his father’s prominence as a county magistrate. Meanwhile, the disappearance of a white, female USC student with a similar academic record, ], has continued to receive national attention more than a dozen years after she vanished in 1992." | |||
*100+ missing women in ], ], and environs. Critics charge that the authorities have been slow in investigating because many of the missing are Aboriginal women, drug users, or sex-trade workers. Media attention has grown recently due to the investigation and trial of ], charged with the murders of 27 women and believed to be responsible for more. See ; . See also dedicated to the missing Aboriginal women in the Vancouver area, and , also focused on Vancouver. | |||
Professor ] theorised that the subtle standard of placing a premium on white lives in the news helps to maintain and reinforce a ] with whites at the top. For example, black women are perceived as members of both a marginalized racial group and a marginalized sex group.<ref name=Sommers /> Crucially, though, black women have an "] experience is greater than the sum of ] and ]". In other words, like white women, black women are subject to sexism, but the form of that sexism differs for black women because of the compounding effects of ], with missing white woman syndrome argued to be a pertinent manifestation of this social phenomenon.<ref name= "Demby"/><ref name= Sommers /> Some sociologists have argued that the tone of media coverage for black female victims differs markedly from coverage of white female victims in that the former are more likely to be blamed for purportedly putting themselves in harm's way, either knowingly or unknowingly. ] in this context reinforces the notion that black female victims are not only less innocent, but also less worthy of rescue relative to white women.<ref name= Sommers /> Other observers note the lack of publicity given to black female victims of ] in news coverage, attributing the silence to a tradition of "sexism and ]" in American society.<ref name= Sommers /> | |||
==MWWS in Iraq War== | |||
Kym Pasqualini, president of the ], observed that media outlets tend to focus on "]"—typically, ] young white women and teenagers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/forensics/americas_missing/3.html |title=Damsels in Distress |first=David |last=Krajicek |page=3 |work=] |access-date=July 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728062922/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/forensics/americas_missing/3.html |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
Critics of MWWS also point to the example of the media coverage of ] versus the coverage of ]. | |||
In a 2016 '']'' article about the ], journalist ] observed that white women of lower social status, such as Whitton, a 26-year-old unemployed drug addict who was on parole, do not get much media attention, as "media outlets are ruthlessly selective, and they tend to prefer women who are white, pretty, and, above all, innocent". Her mother stated that producers of shows like '']'' told her they weren't interested in her daughter's case.<ref name="Tiffany Whitton">{{cite news|last=Junod|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Junod|title=Missing: The Curious Anomaly of Tiffany Whitton's Disappearance|url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a44402/missing-tom-junod/|newspaper=]|date=April 29, 2016| access-date=August 31, 2018}}</ref> Dr. Cory L. Armstrong wrote in '']'': "The pattern of choosing only young, white, middle-class women for the full damsel treatment says a lot about a nation that likes to believe it has consigned ] and ] to irrelevance."<ref name= "Armstrong2013"/> | |||
*] (], ]) - Captured in Iraq War. Cited as an example of Damsel in Distress Syndrome. Rescued by U.S. Forces (], ]) | |||
In 2017, a research paper from the ] studied media coverage and found "disparities in coverage were seen based on race and age. In addition, the narratives of the reports were framed as cautionary tales, and victims were seen as active participants in their disappearance."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jeanis |first1=Michelle N. |last2=Powers |first2=Ráchael A. |date=2017-06-03 |title=Newsworthiness of Missing Persons Cases: An Analysis of Selection Bias, Disparities in Coverage, and the Narrative Framework of News Reports |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01639625.2016.1197618 |journal=Deviant Behavior |language=en |volume=38 |issue=6 |pages=668–683 |doi=10.1080/01639625.2016.1197618 |issn=0163-9625}}</ref> | |||
*] (], ]) - the first black female prisoner of war in the ]. She and ] were taken captive during the same ambush, but Johnson received very little media attention in comparison to Lynch. Rescued by U.S. Forces ], ]. | |||
According to a 2019 study, missing person cases involving both white women and white men received more media attention than those involving black women and men.<ref name="Slakoff">{{Cite journal |last1=Slakoff |first1=Danielle C. |last2=Fradella |first2=Henry F. |date=2019-12-01 |title=Media Messages Surrounding Missing Women and Girls: The "Missing White Woman Syndrome" and Other Factors that Influence Newsworthiness |url=https://ccjls.scholasticahq.com/article/11134-media-messages-surrounding-missing-women-and-girls-the-missing-white-woman-syndrome-and-other-factors-that-influence-newsworthiness |journal=Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society |language=en |volume=20 |issue=3}} p.82: "Despite the popularity of the term 'Missing White Woman Syndrome', few empirical studies have examined the phenomenon in depth... Despite differences in methodologies, media formats, and sampling frames, there were some common findings across studies focused on media portrayals of missing persons. Across gender, missing White people received more media coverage than missing people from racial minority backgrounds, and missing White people's stories were more likely to receive repeated attention (Jeanis & Powers, 2017)."</ref> However, the authors also reported that non-black women of color (such as Asian and Latina women) were just as over-represented as white women in news coverage of missing persons, suggesting that "missing white woman syndrome" is mainly a function of the under-representation of black women in media cases.<ref>{{harvnb|Slakoff|Fradella|2019|p=85|ps=: "As Table 2 illustrates, missing Black girls and women accounted for 19.59% of news stories in the research sample even though they are estimated to account for 33.84% of missing persons. This disparity of more than 14 percentage points demonstrates that the media continue to underreport stories about missing Black women and girls. Conversely, missing White girls and women are overrepresented in news stories by 8.81%, and missing women and girls from other racial backgrounds are similarly overrepresented by 8.63%."}}</ref> | |||
Media critics suggest that Lynch's story was promoted because Lynch was a more palatable and identifiable figure to promote: a young, blonde white woman. Johnson, on the other hand, was a black woman who was a single mother. | |||
Between 2007 and 2020, the ] (NCIC) database maintained by the ] of the ] (FBI) saw an annual average of 664,776 missing person files entered into its database.<ref name="Boston Globe 1-11-2023">{{cite news|last=Vennochi|first=Joan|date=January 11, 2023|title=Ana Walshe story — another missing white woman dominates the news|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/11/opinion/ana-walshe-story-another-missing-white-woman-dominates-news/|access-date=January 25, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Home – NamUS|website=National Missing and Unidentified Persons System|publisher=]|url=https://namus.nij.ojp.gov|access-date=January 24, 2023}}</ref> In its 2020 compilation of NCIC missing and ] files (which included 543,018 and 8,284 files respectively for the year), the FBI found that of the missing person files for whom the person's race and sex were known, 321,830 (or approximately 61.3%) were ] or ],{{efn|Note: White and Hispanic missing person files are combined in the compilation.}} 182,529 (or approximately 34.8%) were ], 10,776 (or approximately 2.1%) were ], and 9,571 (or approximately 1.8%) were ], while 264,760 (or approximately 50.5%) were male, 159,029 (or approximately 30.3%) were white or Hispanic women, and the only racial category with ]. For the 80,442 active missing person files at end-of-year, 48,710 (or approximately 60.6%) were white or Hispanic, 28,201 (or approximately 35.1%) were black, 2,035 (or approximately 2.5%) were Asian, and 1,496 (or approximately 1.9%) were Native American, while 44,048 (or approximately 54.8%) were male and 20,990 (or approximately 26.1%) were white or Hispanic women.<ref>{{cite report|title=2020 NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified Person Statistics|year=2020|pages=2; 5; 8–9|publisher=]|url=https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/2020-ncic-missing-person-and-unidentified-person-statistics.pdf/view|access-date=January 21, 2023}}</ref> | |||
==Criticisms of MWWS in the Media== | |||
In comparison, whites and Hispanics accounted for 61.6% and 18.7% respectively of the U.S. population in the ] (or 80.3% combined), while blacks accounted for 12.4%, Asians accounted for 6%, and Native Americans accounted for 1.1%.<ref>{{cite report|last1=Jones|first1=Nicholas|last2=Marks|first2=Rachel|last3=Ramirez|first3=Roberto|last4=Ríos-Vargas|first4=Merarys|date=August 12, 2021|title=2020 Census Illuminates Racial and Ethnic Composition of the Country|publisher=]|url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html|access-date=January 21, 2023}}</ref> In its 2020 Demographic Analysis, the ] estimated that the male-to-female ] in the United States ranged from 98.1:100 to 98.2:100.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Census Bureau Releases 2020 Demographic Analysis Estimates|date=December 15, 2020|publisher=United States Census Bureau|url=https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/2020-demographic-analysis-estimates.html|access-date=January 25, 2023}}</ref> Only 13 states require that local police departments enter missing or unidentified person files into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Krueger|first1=Hanna|last2=Woodard|first2=Tiana|date=February 4, 2023|title=How the missing become the uncounted: Inside the government's flawed approach to finding missing persons.|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/04/metro/how-missing-become-uncounted-inside-governments-flawed-approach-finding-missing-persons/|access-date=February 6, 2023}}</ref> Additionally, in its 2019 ], the FBI found that 54.7% of ] for whom their race was known were black and that 78.3% for whom their sex was known were male,<ref>{{cite report|title=Uniform Crime Report: Crime in the United States, 2019 – Expanded Homicide Data|year=2019|publisher=]|url=https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/topic-pages/expanded-homicide.pdf|access-date=January 20, 2023}}</ref> while approximately 14% of the U.S. population as a whole was black in the Census Bureau's 2019 ] and the Census Bureau estimated that the U.S. population retained the female majority in its sex ratio.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tamir|first1=Christine|last2=Budiman|first2=Abby|last3=Noe-Bustamante|first3=Luis|last4=Mora|first4=Lauren|date=March 25, 2021|title=Facts About the U.S. Black Population|publisher=]|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/fact-sheet/facts-about-the-us-black-population/|access-date=January 20, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Carey|first1=Isabel Webb|last2=Hackett|first2=Conrad|date=August 31, 2022|title=Global population skews male, but UN projects parity between sexes by 2050|publisher=Pew Research Center|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/08/31/global-population-skews-male-but-un-projects-parity-between-sexes-by-2050/|access-date=January 25, 2023}}</ref>{{efn|Note: The United States Census Bureau has estimated that the U.S. population has been majority female since 1946.}} | |||
* On ] ], the collaborative website ] posted an highly critical of the media coverage of the investigation into the ] disappearance. The editorial accused the mass media of subtle racism for covering the Holloway case but ignoring the case of ], a missing Hispanic girl. It was also critical of the great expense and time devoted to the search for a single missing person despite many other issues of concern the media could have covered instead. The openly combative and harsh tone of the editorial sparked hundreds of angry responses, including legal threats directed towards Kuro5hin's staff. | |||
The ] Urban Indian Health Institute published a study in 2020, led by professor Emily A. Grant, which found marked differences in news coverage of missing and murdered Native Americans compared to coverage of white people who were murdered or missing.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Katie |date=2021-09-22 |title=News Media Can't Shake 'Missing White Woman Syndrome,' Critics Say |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/business/media/gabby-petito-missing-white-woman-syndrome.html |access-date=2023-06-15 |issn=0362-4331}} | |||
''(For more discussion and debate of MWWS in the media, please see the news stories in the "External links" section of this article.)'' | |||
</ref> Missing Native Americans in Wyoming were less likely to be profiled in media unless they were found dead compared to being profiled while still missing; news stories tended to feature more negative information about the lives of Native Americans; and such articles were less likely to feature a photo of the missing person if they were Indigenous.<ref>"Missing And murdered Indigenous People: Statewide Report Wyoming", Emily A. Grant, PhD., Associate Research Scientist, University of Wyoming. Published by Wyoming Urban Indian Health Institute. https://wysac.uwyo.edu/wysac/reports/View/7713 | |||
</ref> | |||
===Canada=== | |||
==Parodies of MWWS== | |||
According to a 2008 study published in ''The Law and Society Association'', ] women who go missing in Canada receive 27 times less news coverage than white women; they also receive "dispassionate and less-detailed, headlines, articles, and images".<ref>{{cite web |last=Gilchrist |first= Kristen |title=Invisible Victims: Disparity in Print-News Media Coverage of Missing/Murdered Aboriginal and White Women |url= http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/3/9/1/4/p239140_index.html |work=AllAcademic.com |date=May 27, 2008 |access-date=June 8, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131006101520/http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/3/9/1/4/p239140_index.html |archive-date=October 6, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
===United Kingdom=== | |||
*In 2004, American television's '']'' released '']'', which among other political topics parodied MWWS by offering a fictional formula regarding media coverage of a kidnapping. The equation went: <math>Minutes of Coverage=Family Income*(Abductee Cuteness/Skin Color)^2+Length of Abduction*Media Savvy of Grieving Parents^3</math> | |||
In January 2006, the ] Commissioner, ], accused the media of ] in its reporting of murders. He contrasted the reporting of the death of the male white lawyer ] with the murder of the male Asian builders' merchant Balbir Matharu. He said "murders in minority communities do not seem to interest the mainstream media". He said that the ], a 10-year-old black boy, was clearly an exception to this. He said he had been surprised at how much coverage the ] had received.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4651368.stm |title=Met chief accuses media of racism |publisher=BBC News |date=January 26, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4654224.stm |title=The story of two murder victims |publisher=BBC News |date=January 27, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4653130.stm |title=Blair apologises to Soham parents |publisher=BBC News |date=January 27, 2006}}</ref> | |||
*In 1997, ] published an article titled lampooning the public's lack of concern in cases where the victim happens to be less than pretty. It also parodied the JonBenét Ramsey investigation by juxtaposing the death with a child beauty pageant. | |||
*The Onion also published in 2002 . | |||
*In the film '']'', Cindy Campbell, who is being stalked by the killer, sends an email to police with the message "White woman in trouble!". Her house is immediately surrounded by several police cars. | |||
*The show-inside-a-show on '']'' did a parody of ] where she is furiously looking for a missing white woman's cell phone. | |||
] Criminology Professor Yvonne Jewkes cites the ], the ], and the Soham murders as examples of "eminently newsworthy stories" about girls from "respectable" middle-class families and backgrounds whose parents used the news media effectively.<ref name=Jewkes>{{cite book |title=Media and Crime| url= https://archive.org/details/mediacrimekeyapp00jewk| url-access= limited| first= Yvonne | last= Jewkes|pages=–53| year= 2004| publisher=Sage Publications| location= London |isbn=0-7619-4765-5}}</ref> She writes that, in contrast, the ], a 10-year-old boy from ], initially received little news coverage, with reports initially concentrating upon street crime levels and community policing in London, and largely ignoring the victim. Even when Damilola's father flew into the UK from Nigeria to make press statements and television appearances, the level of public outcry did not, Jewkes asserts, reach "the near hysterical outpourings of anger and sadness that accompanied the deaths of Sarah, Milly, Holly, and Jessica".<ref name=Jewkes /> According to ], the killing of Damilola Taylor had shocked the UK.<ref>{{cite news |title=Damilola Taylor: How his killing shocked a nation. |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11848488 |website= BBC.co.uk |date= November 27, 2010 |publisher= BBC News|access-date=February 13, 2020}}</ref> | |||
==External links== | |||
Two cases of missing white girl syndrome that have been given as contrasting examples: the ] and the ] (both were white). It was suggested that Jones received more coverage than Williams because Jones was a middle-class schoolgirl, whilst Williams was from a working-class background with a ] and estranged parents.<ref name="auto">{{cite book| title= Understanding Homicide| first=Fiona | last= Brookman| year= 2005| publisher= Sage Publications| location= London| isbn=0-7619-4755-8|page=257}}</ref> Another explanation for the difference in the coverage has been given: the eroticisation of the victim by news reports about a sexual relationship between Jones and her murderer, her uncle.<ref>{{cite book| title= Media and Crime| url= https://archive.org/details/mediacrimekeyapp00jewk| url-access=limited| first= Yvonne | last= Jewkes|pages=–49| year= 2004| publisher=Sage Publications| isbn= 0-7619-4765-5}}</ref> | |||
* - "Some Say Missing Minority Cases Ignored" | |||
A 2023 report by Missing People said cases of missing Black and Asian people are less likely to be solved.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Harry |title=Missing black and Asian people less likely to be found by police, report finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/07/race-disparities-in-missing-person-cases-revealed |website=The Guardian |date=7 March 2023}}</ref> | |||
* - "Spotlight skips cases of missing minorities" | |||
* - "If you’re missing, it helps to be young, white and female" | |||
* - "Media should stop obsessing on missing white women" | |||
* - "Hold The 'Missing White Woman' Stories, Please" | |||
* - "A Missing Answer" | |||
* - "Two 17 year old girls from Richmond, Va. One white, one black. Police deny bias." | |||
* - Head of London's police says murders in minority communities appear "not to interest the mainstream media" | |||
* – Journalist comments on Police Commissioner’s remarks | |||
* - Prof. of Journalism on male/female contrast | |||
* - Eugene Robinson, '(white) women we love' | |||
* - MWWS was the subject of an award-winning feature in ], called "Have You Seen Her?" In this article, several missing ] women, most notably ] of ], were profiled by journalist Kristal Brent Zook. | |||
* - Michelle Malkin, Jun 11, 2005. This is a blog, but at present is the earliest citation of "missing pretty girl syndrome". | |||
== |
===South Africa=== | ||
Sandile Memela, chief director for ] at South Africa's ], noted amidst the ] ] that there existed substantial differences between how media outlets reported on the murders of ] and ]; two South African models, respectively white and black, who had been murdered by their boyfriends under nearly identical circumstances.<ref name="Memela">{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/the-trial-next-door-oscar-pistorius-gets-the-headlines-but-what-about-thato-kutumela-9194821.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220515/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/the-trial-next-door-oscar-pistorius-gets-the-headlines-but-what-about-thato-kutumela-9194821.html |archive-date=May 15, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=The trial next door: Oscar Pistorius gets the headlines, but what about Thato Kutumela? |newspaper=The Independent |date=March 16, 2014}}</ref> Memela asserted that the discrepancy between the media coverage of the Steenkamp and Khumala murders amounted to "]" within South African society, and stated: "As a country we seem to have chosen to ignore the agony, pain and suffering of the Khumalo family for no other reason than that they are black."<ref name= "Memela"/> | |||
*] | |||
On September 11, 2014, the South African news network ] aired an investigative report which raised concerns around the "Missing White Woman Syndrome"; where the death of Steenkamp was juxtaposed with the death of Zanele Khumalo.<ref name="SABC3"/> | |||
==Analogous cases that do not involve missing persons== | |||
Biased media coverage with similar characteristics to missing white woman syndrome has also been observed in situations that do not involve missing people. | |||
===Jessica Lynch=== | |||
]'s rescue]] | |||
Social commentaries pointed to media bias in the coverage of soldier ] versus that of her fellow soldiers, ] and ]. All three were ambushed in the same attack during the ] on March 23, 2003, with Piestewa being killed, and Lynch and Johnson being injured and taken prisoner. Lynch, a young, blonde white woman, received far more media coverage than Johnson, a black single mother, and Piestewa, an Indigenous ] single mother from an impoverished background, with media critics suggesting that the media gave more attention to the woman with whom audiences supposedly more readily identify.<ref name="auto1">{{cite news |title= A case of race? One POW acclaimed, another ignored |url= http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2001786800_shoshana09.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20041206230652/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001786800_shoshana09.html |archive-date=December 6, 2004 |date=November 9, 2003 | newspaper=] | first= Douglas |last= Williams |access-date=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite magazine |last= Gray Davidson |first=Osha |date= May 27, 2004| url= http://www.oshadavidson.com/Piestewa.htm| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090224023524/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/6085435/the_forgotten_soldier/|archive-date=February 24, 2009|title=The Forgotten Soldier|magazine=] |access-date=July 31, 2007}}</ref> | |||
Lynch herself leveled harsh criticism at this disproportionate coverage that focused only on her, stating in a congressional testimony before the ]: | |||
{{blockquote|I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and tried to make me a legend when the real heroics of my fellow soldiers that day were, in fact, legendary. People like Lori Piestewa and ] Dowdy who picked up fellow soldiers in harm's way. Or people like Patrick Miller and ] Donald Walters who actually fought until the very end. The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own ideals of heroes and they don't need to be told elaborate tales.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070424110022.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090220085535/http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070424110022.pdf |archive-date= February 20, 2009 |title=Testimony of Jessica Lynch |publisher=U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee | website= house.gov |access-date= February 2, 2009}}</ref>}} | |||
===Presumed kidnapping of "blonde angel" in Greece=== | |||
In October 2013, a girl estimated to be about four years of age was found in the custody of a ] couple in ] and was presumed to have been abducted. The story about the "blonde angel" and the search for her biological parents received international media coverage. A Romani rights activist commented on the case to say "imagine if the situation were reversed and the children were brown and the parents were white".<ref>{{cite news | url= http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/19/21036597-tips-pour-in-after-blonde-girl-without-an-identity-found-in-roma-camp-in-greece | title= Tips pour in after blonde girl 'without an identity' found in Roma camp in Greece| publisher= ]| date= October 20, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| first= Antonia | last= Blumberg | date= October 28, 2013 | url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/antonia-blumberg/blumberg_b_4170868.html | title= Why the Roma 'Blond Angel' Ignited a Week of Racial Profiling | work= ] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| first= Ashley | last= Adams | date= November 8, 2013 | url= http://www.collegiatetimes.com/opinion/article_a879ba26-6391-11e3-99d9-001a4bcf6878.html |archive-url= https://archive.today/20140406192217/http://www.collegiatetimes.com/opinion/article_a879ba26-6391-11e3-99d9-001a4bcf6878.html | archive-date= April 6, 2014| title= Abduction case reveals bias on basis of race | work= ] }}</ref> The child was later identified as Maria Ruseva. Her biological mother was a Bulgarian Roma who gave Maria up for adoption.<ref name=Ruseva>{{cite news| agency= Associated Press| title=DNA tests confirm Maria's mother as Bulgarian Sasha Ruseva| url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/25/dna-tests-confirms-bulgarian-woman-mother-maria-greece| newspaper= The Guardian| date=October 25, 2013}}</ref> | |||
===Murder trial defendants=== | |||
Critics have also cited excessive media coverage of murder trials where the defendant is female, white, young and attractive, and included them along with missing white woman syndrome instances in an all-encompassing narrative nicknamed the "woman in jeopardy" or "damsel in distress" genre. In such cases, the media will focus on the accused, rather than the victim as in Missing White Woman Syndrome cases, and they will be more ambiguous about their guilt than in other criminal cases regardless of evidence. Cited examples include ], ] and ].<ref name="Farhi">{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Farhi |title=Bad girls and gone girls: Why the media tired of 'missing white women' |date=December 13, 2015 |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/bad-girls-and-gone-girls-why-the-media-tired-of-missing-white-women/2015/12/09/5660fb52-9934-11e5-94f0-9eeaff906ef3_story.html |access-date=September 8, 2017}}</ref> | |||
==Laws named after missing white women and girls== | |||
Several laws have been created in the aftermath of disappearance cases, and are sometimes informally named after the missing person. Commentators have observed that disappearances of white women give rise to such laws more often than missing non-white women or missing men. Such laws in the United States include ], ] (named after Lori Hacking), ] (]), ] (]), and ] (]).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lajoie |first=Yasmin |title=Society Cares Less When Women Of Colour Go Missing |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2020/07/9883915/missing-white-woman-syndrome-madeleine-mccann |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=www.refinery29.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> | |||
==Examples== | |||
<!-- THIS IS NOT A LIST OF MISSING PERSONS. ONLY ADD CASES THAT WHERE RELIABLE SOURCES SAY THAT MISSING WHITE WOMAN SYNDROME IS INVOLVED --> | |||
The following missing-person cases have been cited as instances of missing-white-woman syndrome by media commentators. The commentators stated that these missing persons garnered a disproportionate level of media coverage relative to non-white, or less-wealthy, or male missing persons. | |||
{| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
|- | |||
! scope="col" class="date" style="width: 10em"| Date of disappearance or death | |||
! scope="col" class="text" style="width: 12em"| Name | |||
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Description | |||
! scope="col" class="unsortable" style="width: 5em" | Source(s) | |||
|- | |||
| February 27, 1992 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Pandelios, Kimberly" |Kimberly Pandelios | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 20-year-old woman who disappeared after leaving to respond to a model-wanted ad at the ]. The case was publicized in a 1995 episode of '']''. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-31-me-model31-story.html |title=Model's Killer Gets Life Sentence |author=Suarez, Kelly-Anne |date=March 31, 2006 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=July 5, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20060305/a-models-life-and-death |title=A model's life – and death |author=Greenberg, Brad A. |date=March 5, 2006 |newspaper=Los Angeles Daily News |access-date=July 5, 2017}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| September 24, 1992 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Dinwiddie, Dail" |Dail Dinwiddie | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 23-year-old college student who disappeared after attending a ] concert. She remains missing. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5325808/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/damsels-distress/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015082934/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5325808/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/damsels-distress/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 15, 2013 |title=Damsels in distress: If you're missing, it helps to be young, white and female |author=Johnson, M. Alex |date=July 23, 2004 |publisher=MSNBC |access-date=July 5, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kathleen-parker-dail-dinwiddie-missing-and-still-missed-20-years-later/2012/09/25/5f8afdac-073f-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html |title=Editorial: Dail Dinwiddie, missing and still missed 20 years later |author=Parker, Kathleen |date=September 25, 2012 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 5, 2017}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| October 1, 1993 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Klaas, Polly" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 12-year-old girl who was found murdered. ] was convicted and sentenced to death. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /> | |||
|- | |||
| November 16, 1995 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Sobek, Linda" |Linda Sobek | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 27-year-old model and former ] ] who disappeared while on assignment. Salacious details of the case were printed in the national media. Her murderer was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-12-mn-13043-story.html |title=Slain Model Was Sexually Assaulted, Coroner Says |author=Malnic, Eric |date=December 12, 1995 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=July 5, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://people.com/archive/cover-story-in-a-shallow-grave-vol-44-no-24/ |title=In a Shallow Grave |author=Hewitt, Bill |date=December 11, 1995 |magazine=People |access-date=July 5, 2017}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| May 25, 1996 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Smart, Kristin" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 19-year-old college student disappeared on campus of ]. Her disappearance resulted in state legislation, including the Kristin Smart Campus Security Act.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 26, 2020 |url=https://www.lcwlegal.com/news/the-kristin-smart-campus-safety-act-what-it-is-why-its-important-and-a-missing-student-remembered/ |title=The Kristin Smart Campus Safety Act: What It Is, Why It's Important, and a Missing Student Remembered |work=Liebert Cassidy Whitmore News}}</ref> | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=":1">{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Jax |date=October 3, 2023 |title=What Is Missing White Woman Syndrome? |url=https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/what-is-missing-white-woman-syndrome-found-references-issue |work=NBC}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| December 25, 1996 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Ramsey, JonBenét" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 6-year-old girl who was killed in her family's home. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /> | |||
|- | |||
| June 23, 1997 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Modafferi, Kristen" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |An 18-year-old college student who disappeared from the ], and as of 2023, remains missing. Her disappearance, just 3 weeks after her 18th birthday, helped to establish Kristen's Law and the ]. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /> | |||
|- | |||
| June 27, 2000 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Bish, Molly" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 16-year-old girl who disappeared after being dropped off at her lifeguarding job. Her remains were not found for three years, despite extensive searching and publicity. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /> | |||
|- | |||
| July 1, 2000 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Payne, Sarah" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |An 8-year-old girl who was abducted from a cornfield while playing with her siblings. Her death led to the government allowing limited access to the sex offender registry. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=Jewkes /> | |||
|- | |||
| June 18, 2001 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Jones, Danielle" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 15-year-old girl murdered by her uncle; her body has never been recovered. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=Jewkes /> | |||
|- | |||
| May 1, 2001 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Levy, Chandra" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 24-year-old intern disappeared while she had an affair with married representative ]. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /> | |||
|- | |||
| January 10, 2002 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Cooke, Rachel" |Rachel Cooke | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 19-year-old college student who disappeared while jogging in ]. Her disappearance was publicized nationally, but she is still missing. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mystatesman.com/news/local/rachel-cooke-remembered-years-after-she-vanished/8Og10CCsnFVPm8gyZLlGsJ/ |title=Rachel Cooke to be remembered 14 years after she vanished |author=Osborn, Claire |date=January 9, 2016 |newspaper=Austin American-Statesman |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622083700/http://www.mystatesman.com/news/local/rachel-cooke-remembered-years-after-she-vanished/8Og10CCsnFVPm8gyZLlGsJ/|archive-date=June 22, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| February 1, 2002 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="van Dam, Danielle" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 7-year-old girl who disappeared from her bedroom. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /> | |||
|- | |||
| March 21, 2002 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Dowler, Milly" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 13-year-old girl who disappeared after school. Her remains were found after an extensive six-month search, and the case played a significant role in the ]. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=Jewkes /> | |||
|- | |||
| June 5, 2002 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Smart, Elizabeth" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 14-year-old girl, missing for 9 months after being in ]. Her captor was sentenced to ]. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="Robinson" /><ref name="Farhi" /> | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan=2 |August 4, 2002 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Chapman, Jessica" |] | |||
| rowspan=2 style="font-size:100%;" |Two 10-year-old girls murdered while returning from a shopping trip. | |||
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=Jewkes /> | |||
|- | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Wells, Holly" |] | |||
|- | |||
| August 29, 2002 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Herron, Audrey" |Audrey Herron | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 31-year-old woman and mother of three who disappeared after leaving work. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /> | |||
|- | |||
| December 24, 2002 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Peterson, Laci" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 27-year-old pregnant woman murdered by her husband Scott Peterson. The case led to the implementation of "Laci and Connor's Law", which defines violence against a pregnant woman as violence against two separate legal subjects (the mother and the unborn child).<ref name="Earle">Earle, S.; Komaromy, C. & Bartholomew, C. (2008) ''Death and Dying: A Reading.'' Sage Publications Ltd., 276 pages</ref> | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="Foreman (2006)" /> | |||
|- | |||
| March 23, 2003 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Lynch, Jessica" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 19-year-old ] injured and taken prisoner at the ]. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="Robinson" /> | |||
|- | |||
| November 22, 2003 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Sjodin, Dru" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 22-year-old student who was found murdered. Her murderer was convicted, and the case prompted the ]. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /><ref>{{cite web |date=July 27, 2005 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-27-sex-offender-bill_x.htm |title=House panel passes 'Dru's Law' in sex offender bill |work=] |access-date=January 8, 2013}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| February 1, 2004 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Brucia, Carlie" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |An 11-year-old girl who was kidnapped from a car wash and later murdered. The surveillance video showing the kidnapping gained nationwide attention. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /> | |||
|- | |||
| March 27, 2004 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Seiler, Audrey" |Audrey Seiler | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 20-year-old college student who was found alive after an extensive search; it was later revealed she had fabricated the incident. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://wcfcourier.com/news/breaking_news/a-year-after-student-faked-her-own-abduction-she-s/article_c2f54c7b-80de-5a7a-bd7c-370f700bdb6a.html |title=A year after student faked her own abduction, she's taking life 'step by step' |author=Harter, Kevin |date=April 3, 2005 |newspaper=The Courier |agency=Knight Ridder Newspapers |access-date=July 5, 2017}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| May 24, 2004 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Wilberger, Brooke" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 19-year-old student who was abducted and murdered. Her murderer revealed the location of her body and was convicted. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=MSNBC-040723 /> | |||
|- | |||
| July 19, 2004 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Hacking, Lori" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 27-year-old woman murdered by her husband. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=coverage /><ref name="Foreman (2006)" /> | |||
|- | |||
| February 24, 2005 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Lunsford, Jessica" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 9-year-old girl abducted from her home and later murdered. Her death led to more restrictive monitoring of sex offenders, known as ]. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.gainesville.com/news/20051202/news-coverage-ignoring-missing-minority-children |title=News coverage ignoring missing minority children |date=December 2, 2005 |agency=Scripps Howard News Service |newspaper=The Gainesville Sun |access-date=July 5, 2017}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| April 26, 2005 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Wilbanks, Jennifer" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 32-year-old woman who fabricated her disappearance to avoid marriage. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=Liebler>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1753-9137.2010.01085.x |title=Me(di)a Culpa?: The "missing White Woman Syndrome" and Media Self-Critique |author=Liebler, Carol M. |date=2010 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=549–565 |journal=Communication, Culture & Critique |issn=1753-9129 |publisher=International Communication Association }}<!--PDF url: http://people.stu.ca/~mccormic/3263MEDIA/Missing%20White%20Woman%20Syndrome.pdf --></ref> | |||
|- | |||
| May 30, 2005 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Holloway, Natalee" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |An 18-year-old American high school graduate who disappeared in ]. Her disappearance resulted in an international ], the coverage contributed to the term "missing white woman syndrome" being brought into greater public awareness.<ref name="CNN-20050823-Holloway">{{cite news |date=2005-08-23 |title=When is enough Natalee Holloway madness enough? |url=http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/08/23/enough.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622044858/http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/08/23/enough.shtml |archive-date=2008-06-22 |publisher=Caribbean Net News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/10/19/natalee-holloway-missing-white-woman-syndrome/ |title= How Natalee Holloway's case put a spotlight on media coverage of missing White women |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> She was declared ] on January 12, 2012. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=coverage /><ref name="Foreman (2006)">Foreman, Tom (March 14, 2006). . CNN.</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| September 5, 2005 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Behl, Taylor" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 17-year-old ] freshman who disappeared and was later found dead. Her murderer was convicted. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=coverage /> | |||
|- | |||
| October 7, 2006 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Gardner-Quinn, Michelle" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 21-year-old undergraduate at the ] who disappeared and was later found dead. Her murderer was convicted. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref>{{cite web |last=Floyd |first=Jami |url=http://insession.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/10/remembering-michelle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514050614/http://insession.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/10/remembering-michelle/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |title=Remembering Michelle |publisher=CNN.com |date=July 10, 2008 |access-date=January 8, 2012 }}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| February 9, 2007 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Grant, Tara" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 35-year-old woman murdered by her husband. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="HunterPreddy2009">{{cite book|author1=George Hunter|author2=Melissa Ann Preddy|title=Limb from Limb|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iRtPpziwhowC&pg=PA76|year=2009|publisher=Pinnacle Books|isbn=978-0-7860-2292-2|page=76}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| May 3, 2007 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="McCann, Madeline" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 3-year-old girl who disappeared from her parents' hotel room during a family holiday in Portugal. Described by '']'' as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history". The case remains unsolved. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="MMTI">{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/our-shameful-hierarchy--some-deaths-matter-more-than-others-8581715.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220515/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/our-shameful-hierarchy--some-deaths-matter-more-than-others-8581715.html |archive-date=May 15, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Our shameful hierarchy – some deaths matter more than others |work=] |date=April 21, 2013 |last=Jones |first=Ozen |access-date=March 27, 2014}}</ref><ref name="MMIBT">{{cite web |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/what-missing-white-woman-syndrome-1441153 |title=What is 'Missing White Woman Syndrome'? Racism in Media Coverage |work=] |date=March 20, 2014 |last=Laccino |first=Ludovica |access-date=March 23, 2014}}</ref><ref name="MMDT">{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1902515/Master-of-media-circus-for-Madeleine-McCann.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1902515/Master-of-media-circus-for-Madeleine-McCann.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Master of media circus for Madeleine McCann |work=] |date=April 24, 2008 |access-date=March 27, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| June 16, 2008 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Anthony, Caylee" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 2-year-old girl reported missing in Florida by her grandmother after 31 days. After her mother was controversially acquitted of her murder, several American states passed or proposed versions of "]", making it a felony for parents to fail to report their children missing to authorities. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=Bloom /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/176944/20110708/caylee-s-law.htm|title=Clamor Grows Louder for Caylee's Law After Mother Only Gets Slap On Wrist|work=International Business Times|access-date=September 17, 2021|date=July 8, 2011}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| January 24, 2009 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Del Castillo, Marta" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 17-year-old Spanish middle-class high school student who disappeared in ], ]. Despite extensive searches and the conviction of her killer, her body has never been found. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref>{{cite news |last=Corroto |first=Paula |date=November 16, 2021 |title=¿Dónde está Marta del Castillo? Lo que no cuenta la nueva serie documental de Netflix | |||
|trans-title=Where is Marta del Castillo? What the new Netflix documentary series doesn't tell |url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2021-11-16/documental-marta-castillo-polemica_3324597/ | |||
|language=es |work=El Confidencial}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Mariño |first=Mara |date=January 18, 2024 |title=El morbo (machista) de las agresiones sexuales |trans-title=The morbidity (sexist) of sexual assaults|url=https://blogs.20minutos.es/el-blog-de-lilih-blue/2024/01/18/morbo-machista-agresiones-sexuales/ |language=es |work=20 Minutos}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| February 9, 2009 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Cummings, Haleigh" |Haleigh Cummings | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 5-year-old girl kidnapped from her father's trailer in ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cummings_haleigh.html|title=The Charley Project: Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings|first=Meaghan Elizabeth|last=Good|website=Charleyproject.org|access-date=October 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924211731/http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cummings_haleigh.html|archive-date=September 24, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=Bloom>{{cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Lisa E |title=Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World |date=2011 |publisher=Vanguard Press |isbn=978-1-4596-1459-8 |oclc=1001394896 |url=http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1001394896 |language=English}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| October 5, 2009 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Symes, Aisling" |Aisling Symes | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 2-year-old girl who disappeared from her home in ]. She was feared abducted; shortly after, her body was found in a drain near her home a week later. It was determined that she was the victim of accidental drowning, after wandering off from her mother's side while she was carrying out household chores. Tim Hulme, writing for '']'', surmised that age was a much greater factor than race or class in the extensive media coverage the case garnered. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="auto3">{{Cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2975448/The-toddler-who-united-a-country|title=The toddler who united a country|last=Hume|first=Tim|date=October 18, 2009|work=]|access-date=May 15, 2017}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| April 13, 2011 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Bobo, Holly" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 20-year-old nursing student who disappeared from her home in ]. Her remains were found in September 2014. Two men have been charged with her murder and kidnapping. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="MMCR">{{cite web |last=Barton |first=Robin L. |title=The 'Missing White Woman Syndrome'|publisher=The Crime Report |date=August 22, 2011 |url=http://www.thecrimereport.org/viewpoints/robin-barton/2011-08-the-missing-white-woman-syndrome |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902163316/https://thecrimereport.org/2011/08/22/2011-08-the-missing-white-woman-syndrome/ |archive-date=September 2, 2016 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| June 3, 2011 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Spierer, Lauren" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 20-year-old ] student who disappeared after a night of drinking. She remains missing. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="spierer grubb">{{cite news|last=Majchrowicz|first=Michael|title=Beyond the posters: How demographics factored in Spierer, Grubb cases|url=https://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=84052|newspaper=Indiana Daily Student|date=November 9, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304010835/https://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=84052|archive-date=March 4, 2014}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| August 3, 2013 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Anderson, Hannah" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 16-year-old California high school student who was kidnapped by a family friend after cheerleading practice. She was found in Idaho after a weeklong national search. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=Sommers /> | |||
|- | |||
| September 13, 2014 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Graham, Hannah" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |An 18-year-old ] student who was kidnapped and murdered by an acquaintance. Her remains were found approximately five weeks after her disappearance. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref>{{cite news |url=http://splinternews.com/i-am-a-girl-now-sage-smith-wrote-then-she-went-missin-1797178002 |title='I Am a Girl Now,' Sage Smith Wrote. Then She Went Missing |author=Eisenberg, Emma | |||
|editor=Aronowitz, Nona Willis |date=July 24, 2017 |publisher=Splinter News |access-date=July 26, 2017}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| August 22, 2016 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Quer, Diana" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |An 18-year-old girl from a wealthy ] family who disappeared while vacationing in ], ]. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name = "García">{{cite news |last=García |first=José Manuel |date=September 9, 2016 |title=Diana Quer: Se busca mujer blanca, joven y de familia rica |trans-title=Diana Quer: Missing white woman, young and from a wealthy family|url=http://www.lavanguardia.com/sucesos/20160909/41175733575/se-busca-mujer-blanca-joven-familia-rica.html |language=es |work=La Vanguardia |location=Barcelona, Spain |access-date=August 14, 2017}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
|November 2, 2016 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Papini, Sherri" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" |A 34-year-old woman from ], faked her abduction in order to spend time with her ex-boyfriend.<ref>{{cite web |title = California jogger accused of faking own kidnapping leaves jail |url = https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/08/sherri-papini-kidnapping-release-jail |website = The Guardian |language = en |date = 9 March 2022 }}</ref> | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref>{{cite web |title = The "missing white woman syndrome" in the Sherri Papini case |url = https://krcrtv.com/newsletter-daily/the-missing-white-woman-syndrome-in-the-sherri-papini-case |website = KRCR News |language = en |date = 21 April 2022 }}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| July 16, 2018 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Tibbets, Mollie" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" | 20-year-old who disappeared while jogging near her home in ]. Her body was discovered over a month later on August 21. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/08/21/mollie-tibbetts-has-been-found-dead-a-month-after-she-vanished-authorities-say/?noredirect=on |title=Mollie Tibbetts has been found dead a month after she vanished, authorities say |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 21, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.fox23.com/news/national-news/mollie-tibbetts-gets-far-more-coverage-than-other-missing-iowans-is-media-bias-to-blame/803552523 |title=Mollie Tibbetts gets far more coverage than other missing persons. Is media bias to blame? |newspaper=USA Today |date=August 1, 2018}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| October 15, 2018 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Closs, Jayme" |] | |||
|A 13-year-old girl was abducted from the ] home of her parents, both of whom were killed during the incident. She escaped her captor 88 days later. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2019/01/kidnappings-by-strangers-like-the-jayme-closs-case-are-rare-so-are-positive-outcomes/|title=Kidnappings by strangers, like the Jayme Closs case, are rare. So are positive outcomes|date=January 15, 2019|website=MinnPost|language=en-US|access-date=January 18, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://projects.jsonline.com/apps/missing-kids/index.html|title=Jayme Closs has been found, but nearly 50 other children missing from Wisconsin need your help|date=January 18, 2019 |author=Lainey Seyler |website=projects.jsonline.com|language=en-us|access-date=January 18, 2019}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| December 1, 2018 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Millane, Grace" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" | A 22-year-old British tourist from a wealthy family who disappeared while visiting ]. Her body was discovered in a rural area of ] just over one week after she went missing. A man was subsequently convicted of her murder.<ref>{{cite news |title=Man guilty of British backpacker's murder |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-50512163 |work=BBC News |date=November 22, 2019}}</ref> | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12176421|title=Paul Little: Grace Millane case highlights a terrible double standard|last=Little|first=Paul|date=December 15, 2018|work=New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ |issn=1170-0777 |access-date=December 15, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/109365685/ali-mau-why-we-grieve-for-grace-millane-and-not-others|title=We've all had the chance to mourn Grace Millane, but the court denies this other slain woman that humanity|first=Alison|last=Mau|website=Stuff|date=December 15, 2018|language=en|access-date=December 15, 2018}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=September 28, 2021|title=Where's the social media outrage and march for Lena Zhang Harrap?|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300417770/wheres-the-social-media-outrage-and-march-for-lena-zhang-harrap|access-date=September 28, 2021|website=Stuff|language=en}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| March 3, 2021 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Everard, Sarah" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" | A 33-year-old white British middle-class woman who disappeared after leaving a friend's house in ]. On March 10, police searching woodland at ] in ] found human remains. Two days later, it was confirmed to be the body of Everard. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/what-sarah-everards-murder-illuminatesand-might-obscure/618302/|title = What Sarah Everard's Murder Illuminates – And Might Obscure|website = ]|date = March 17, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/opinion/difference-sarah-everards-death-stand-up-for-women-of-colour-914457|title = To make a difference after Sarah Everard's death, you must stand up for women of colour too|date = March 19, 2021}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| September 11, 2021 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Petito, Gabby" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" | A 22-year-old American woman from ], who was reported missing while traveling across the ] with her ]. Her family lost contact with her in late August when she was in or near ] in ]. | |||
| style="text-align:center;” | <ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newsone.com/4210757/gabrielle-petito-media-coverage-missing-black-women/|title = Amid Search For Gabrielle Petito, Imagine If Mainstream Media Covered Missing Black Women And Girls As Extensively|date = September 16, 2021}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
| September 2, 2022 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Fletcher, Eliza" |Eliza Fletcher | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" | A 34-year-old kindergarten teacher from a upper-class family who disappeared while jogging in ], ]. Her abductor and killer was identified and imprisoned. | |||
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name=":1" /> | |||
|- | |||
| January 1, 2023 | |||
! style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Walshe, Ana" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" | A 39-year-old Serbian-American woman from ], who disappeared early in the morning on New Year’s Day. | |||
| style="text-align:center;” |<ref name="Boston Globe 1-11-2023" /> | |||
|- | |||
|January 27, 2023 | |||
!style="text-align:left;" data-sort-value="Bulley, Nicola" |] | |||
| style="font-size:100%;" | A 45-year-old British woman from ], ] disappeared while she was walking her dog. | |||
|style="text-align:center;” |<ref name=" Leah Mahon 21-02-2023" >{{Cite web|last=Mahon|first=Leah|title=Community calls for more media coverage over Mariama Kallon, 13, as teenager is still missing after a week|url=https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/uk-news/2023/02/17/community-calls-for-more-media-coverage-over-mariam-kallon-13-as-teenager-is-still-missing-after-a-week/|access-date=February 21, 2023|website=Your Voice|date=February 17, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.image.ie/self/real-life-stories/nicola-bulley-the-mother-who-disappeared-708678|title = Nicola Bulley: The mother who disappeared|date = February 11, 2023|access-date=November 23, 2023|website=Image|language=en}}</ref> | |||
|- | |||
|} | |||
==See also== | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
==References== | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
== Notes == | |||
{{notelist}} | |||
==Further reading== | |||
* {{cite journal |first=Rebecca |last=Wanzo|author-link=Rebecca Wanzo |title=The Era of Lost (White) Girls: On Body and Event |journal=Differences |year=2008 |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=99–126 |doi=10.1215/10407391-2008-005 }} | |||
* article about the lack of coverage around Athena Curry's disappearance, missing since May 2011. | |||
==External links== | |||
* – Black and Missing But Not Forgotten | |||
{{Media and human factors}} | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Missing White Woman Syndrome}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 21:58, 19 December 2024
Term for increased media coverage
Missing white woman syndrome is a term used by some social scientists and media commentators to denote perceived disproportionate media coverage, especially on television, of missing-person cases toward white females as compared to males, or females of color. Supporters of the phenomenon posit that it encompasses supposed disproportionate media attention to females who are young, attractive, white, and upper middle class. Although the term was coined in the context of missing-person cases, it is sometimes used of coverage of other violent crimes. The phenomenon has been highlighted in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and other predominantly white countries, as well as South Africa.
Despite the popularity of the term "missing white woman syndrome," there have been few empirical studies examining the subject. According to a single 2019 study, gender was a significant factor in media coverage of missing person cases. The study found that female victims receive more coverage overall, and national and out-of-state attention is even more skewed towards representing women. The 2019 study also found missing person cases involving White people received more media attention than those involving Black people. However, the authors also reported that non-black women of color (such as Asian and Latina women) are just as over-represented as white women in news coverage, suggesting that the misnomer of "missing white woman syndrome" is rather a function of the under-representation of black women in media cases. Analysis has also found that missing women are twelve times more likely than missing men to receive attention in Louisiana, despite men and women going missing at similar rates nationally.
The phenomenon has led to a number of tough-on-crime measures, mainly on the political right, that were named for white women who disappeared and were subsequently found harmed. In addition to race and class, factors such as supposed attractiveness, body size, and youthfulness have been identified as unfair criteria in the determination of newsworthiness in coverage of missing women. News coverage of missing black women was more likely to focus on the victim's problems, such as abusive boyfriends, criminal history, or drug addiction, while coverage of white women often tended to focus on their roles as mothers, daughters, students, and contributors to their communities.
Origins and criticism
American news anchor Gwen Ifill is credited with originating the phrase at the Unity: Journalists of Color journalism conference in 2004. At the conference, she said: "I call it the missing white woman search syndrome. If there is a missing white woman we're going to cover that every day."
Charlton McIlwain defined the syndrome as "white women occupying a privileged role as violent crime victims in news media reporting", and posited that missing white woman syndrome functions as a type of racial hierarchy in the cultural imagery of the U.S. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva categorized the racial component of missing white woman syndrome as a "form of racial grammar, through which white supremacy is normalized by implicit, or even invisible standards".
Studies, reports and analyses
United States
In 2003, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article detailing the disparity between the coverage of the Laci Peterson case, and that of Evelyn Hernandez, a Hispanic woman – both of whom disappeared in 2002.
A report that aired on CNN in 2006 noted the differences in the level of media coverage given to missing white women (such as Laci Peterson and Natalee Holloway), when compared to the level of coverage given to LaToyia Figueroa, a pregnant black Hispanic woman. Figueroa disappeared in Philadelphia in 2005, the same year Holloway disappeared.
A 2010 study of news coverage of missing children found that black missing children cases were significantly underrepresented, when compared to national statistics. Missing black girls were significantly underrepresented in national news reporting. The coverage of death cases for black boys was significantly greater than expected. Coverage of non-black female kidnapping cases was greater than expected. A subsequent study found that children from minority groups, especially black children, were more likely to remain missing for longer periods of time.
A 2013 study that addressed media coverage of missing children, focusing on sex, but not race, found that "the results revealed that gender and age play only a minor role in deciding which abduction incidents are covered by newspapers, as well as the extent to which they are reported on. Specifically, newspapers dedicated more words to female victims than male victims, and reported more on younger children (aged 11 and under) than older children (aged 12 and over) when they were the victim of a nonfamily abduction."
In 2015, a report was published that re-examined the results from Min and Feaster's 2010 study about media coverage of missing children and confirmed that the media coverage of white missing persons was disproportionate compared to non-whites, but found that the coverage of females was not as biased as the 2010 study concluded.
In 2016, Zach Sommers, a sociologist at Northwestern University, published a study explaining that while there is a sizable body of research that shows that white people are more likely than people of color to appear in news coverage as victims of violent crime, there is relatively little when it comes to missing persons cases. Sommers cross-referenced the missing persons coverage of four national and regional media outlets against the FBI's missing persons database and found that black people were disproportionately less likely to appear in the news when compared to their rates of missingness; he also found that among those missing persons who appeared in the news, the coverage was much more intense (i.e., more articles were written) for white women and girls than other demographic groups.
Professor Eduardo Bonilla-Silva theorised that the subtle standard of placing a premium on white lives in the news helps to maintain and reinforce a racial hierarchy with whites at the top. For example, black women are perceived as members of both a marginalized racial group and a marginalized sex group. Crucially, though, black women have an "intersectional experience is greater than the sum of racism and sexism". In other words, like white women, black women are subject to sexism, but the form of that sexism differs for black women because of the compounding effects of racial discrimination, with missing white woman syndrome argued to be a pertinent manifestation of this social phenomenon. Some sociologists have argued that the tone of media coverage for black female victims differs markedly from coverage of white female victims in that the former are more likely to be blamed for purportedly putting themselves in harm's way, either knowingly or unknowingly. Victim blaming in this context reinforces the notion that black female victims are not only less innocent, but also less worthy of rescue relative to white women. Other observers note the lack of publicity given to black female victims of police brutality in news coverage, attributing the silence to a tradition of "sexism and patriarchy" in American society.
Kym Pasqualini, president of the National Center for Missing Adults, observed that media outlets tend to focus on "damsels in distress"—typically, affluent young white women and teenagers.
In a 2016 Esquire article about the disappearance of Tiffany Whitton, journalist Tom Junod observed that white women of lower social status, such as Whitton, a 26-year-old unemployed drug addict who was on parole, do not get much media attention, as "media outlets are ruthlessly selective, and they tend to prefer women who are white, pretty, and, above all, innocent". Her mother stated that producers of shows like Nancy Grace told her they weren't interested in her daughter's case. Dr. Cory L. Armstrong wrote in The Washington Post: "The pattern of choosing only young, white, middle-class women for the full damsel treatment says a lot about a nation that likes to believe it has consigned race and class to irrelevance."
In 2017, a research paper from the University of South Florida studied media coverage and found "disparities in coverage were seen based on race and age. In addition, the narratives of the reports were framed as cautionary tales, and victims were seen as active participants in their disappearance."
According to a 2019 study, missing person cases involving both white women and white men received more media attention than those involving black women and men. However, the authors also reported that non-black women of color (such as Asian and Latina women) were just as over-represented as white women in news coverage of missing persons, suggesting that "missing white woman syndrome" is mainly a function of the under-representation of black women in media cases.
Between 2007 and 2020, the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database maintained by the Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) saw an annual average of 664,776 missing person files entered into its database. In its 2020 compilation of NCIC missing and unidentified person files (which included 543,018 and 8,284 files respectively for the year), the FBI found that of the missing person files for whom the person's race and sex were known, 321,830 (or approximately 61.3%) were white or Hispanic, 182,529 (or approximately 34.8%) were black, 10,776 (or approximately 2.1%) were Asian, and 9,571 (or approximately 1.8%) were Native American, while 264,760 (or approximately 50.5%) were male, 159,029 (or approximately 30.3%) were white or Hispanic women, and the only racial category with more female files than male was Native Americans. For the 80,442 active missing person files at end-of-year, 48,710 (or approximately 60.6%) were white or Hispanic, 28,201 (or approximately 35.1%) were black, 2,035 (or approximately 2.5%) were Asian, and 1,496 (or approximately 1.9%) were Native American, while 44,048 (or approximately 54.8%) were male and 20,990 (or approximately 26.1%) were white or Hispanic women.
In comparison, whites and Hispanics accounted for 61.6% and 18.7% respectively of the U.S. population in the 2020 United States census (or 80.3% combined), while blacks accounted for 12.4%, Asians accounted for 6%, and Native Americans accounted for 1.1%. In its 2020 Demographic Analysis, the United States Census Bureau estimated that the male-to-female sex ratio in the United States ranged from 98.1:100 to 98.2:100. Only 13 states require that local police departments enter missing or unidentified person files into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Additionally, in its 2019 Uniform Crime Report, the FBI found that 54.7% of murder victims in the United States for whom their race was known were black and that 78.3% for whom their sex was known were male, while approximately 14% of the U.S. population as a whole was black in the Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey and the Census Bureau estimated that the U.S. population retained the female majority in its sex ratio.
The Wyoming Urban Indian Health Institute published a study in 2020, led by professor Emily A. Grant, which found marked differences in news coverage of missing and murdered Native Americans compared to coverage of white people who were murdered or missing. Missing Native Americans in Wyoming were less likely to be profiled in media unless they were found dead compared to being profiled while still missing; news stories tended to feature more negative information about the lives of Native Americans; and such articles were less likely to feature a photo of the missing person if they were Indigenous.
Canada
According to a 2008 study published in The Law and Society Association, Indigenous women who go missing in Canada receive 27 times less news coverage than white women; they also receive "dispassionate and less-detailed, headlines, articles, and images".
United Kingdom
In January 2006, the London Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Ian Blair, accused the media of institutional racism in its reporting of murders. He contrasted the reporting of the death of the male white lawyer Tom ap Rhys Pryce with the murder of the male Asian builders' merchant Balbir Matharu. He said "murders in minority communities do not seem to interest the mainstream media". He said that the death of Damilola Taylor, a 10-year-old black boy, was clearly an exception to this. He said he had been surprised at how much coverage the murders of two 10-year-old white girls in Soham had received.
University of Leicester Criminology Professor Yvonne Jewkes cites the murder of Milly Dowler, the murder of Sarah Payne, and the Soham murders as examples of "eminently newsworthy stories" about girls from "respectable" middle-class families and backgrounds whose parents used the news media effectively. She writes that, in contrast, the killing of Damilola Taylor, a 10-year-old boy from Nigeria, initially received little news coverage, with reports initially concentrating upon street crime levels and community policing in London, and largely ignoring the victim. Even when Damilola's father flew into the UK from Nigeria to make press statements and television appearances, the level of public outcry did not, Jewkes asserts, reach "the near hysterical outpourings of anger and sadness that accompanied the deaths of Sarah, Milly, Holly, and Jessica". According to BBC News, the killing of Damilola Taylor had shocked the UK.
Two cases of missing white girl syndrome that have been given as contrasting examples: the murder of Hannah Williams and the murder of Danielle Jones (both were white). It was suggested that Jones received more coverage than Williams because Jones was a middle-class schoolgirl, whilst Williams was from a working-class background with a stud in her nose and estranged parents. Another explanation for the difference in the coverage has been given: the eroticisation of the victim by news reports about a sexual relationship between Jones and her murderer, her uncle. A 2023 report by Missing People said cases of missing Black and Asian people are less likely to be solved.
South Africa
Sandile Memela, chief director for social cohesion at South Africa's Department of Arts and Culture, noted amidst the Oscar Pistorius trial that there existed substantial differences between how media outlets reported on the murders of Reeva Steenkamp and Zanele Khumalo; two South African models, respectively white and black, who had been murdered by their boyfriends under nearly identical circumstances. Memela asserted that the discrepancy between the media coverage of the Steenkamp and Khumala murders amounted to "structural racism" within South African society, and stated: "As a country we seem to have chosen to ignore the agony, pain and suffering of the Khumalo family for no other reason than that they are black."
On September 11, 2014, the South African news network SABC3 aired an investigative report which raised concerns around the "Missing White Woman Syndrome"; where the death of Steenkamp was juxtaposed with the death of Zanele Khumalo.
Analogous cases that do not involve missing persons
Biased media coverage with similar characteristics to missing white woman syndrome has also been observed in situations that do not involve missing people.
Jessica Lynch
Social commentaries pointed to media bias in the coverage of soldier Jessica Lynch versus that of her fellow soldiers, Shoshana Johnson and Lori Piestewa. All three were ambushed in the same attack during the Iraq War on March 23, 2003, with Piestewa being killed, and Lynch and Johnson being injured and taken prisoner. Lynch, a young, blonde white woman, received far more media coverage than Johnson, a black single mother, and Piestewa, an Indigenous Hopi single mother from an impoverished background, with media critics suggesting that the media gave more attention to the woman with whom audiences supposedly more readily identify.
Lynch herself leveled harsh criticism at this disproportionate coverage that focused only on her, stating in a congressional testimony before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:
I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and tried to make me a legend when the real heroics of my fellow soldiers that day were, in fact, legendary. People like Lori Piestewa and First Sergeant Dowdy who picked up fellow soldiers in harm's way. Or people like Patrick Miller and Sergeant Donald Walters who actually fought until the very end. The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own ideals of heroes and they don't need to be told elaborate tales.
Presumed kidnapping of "blonde angel" in Greece
In October 2013, a girl estimated to be about four years of age was found in the custody of a Roma couple in Greece and was presumed to have been abducted. The story about the "blonde angel" and the search for her biological parents received international media coverage. A Romani rights activist commented on the case to say "imagine if the situation were reversed and the children were brown and the parents were white". The child was later identified as Maria Ruseva. Her biological mother was a Bulgarian Roma who gave Maria up for adoption.
Murder trial defendants
Critics have also cited excessive media coverage of murder trials where the defendant is female, white, young and attractive, and included them along with missing white woman syndrome instances in an all-encompassing narrative nicknamed the "woman in jeopardy" or "damsel in distress" genre. In such cases, the media will focus on the accused, rather than the victim as in Missing White Woman Syndrome cases, and they will be more ambiguous about their guilt than in other criminal cases regardless of evidence. Cited examples include Amanda Knox, Jodi Arias and Casey Anthony.
Laws named after missing white women and girls
Several laws have been created in the aftermath of disappearance cases, and are sometimes informally named after the missing person. Commentators have observed that disappearances of white women give rise to such laws more often than missing non-white women or missing men. Such laws in the United States include Sarah's Law, Lori's Law (named after Lori Hacking), Megan's Law (Megan Kanka), Jessica's Law (Jessica Lunsford), and Caylee's Law (Caylee Anthony).
Examples
The following missing-person cases have been cited as instances of missing-white-woman syndrome by media commentators. The commentators stated that these missing persons garnered a disproportionate level of media coverage relative to non-white, or less-wealthy, or male missing persons.
Date of disappearance or death | Name | Description | Source(s) |
---|---|---|---|
February 27, 1992 | Kimberly Pandelios | A 20-year-old woman who disappeared after leaving to respond to a model-wanted ad at the Angeles National Forest. The case was publicized in a 1995 episode of Unsolved Mysteries. | |
September 24, 1992 | Dail Dinwiddie | A 23-year-old college student who disappeared after attending a U2 concert. She remains missing. | |
October 1, 1993 | Polly Klaas | A 12-year-old girl who was found murdered. Her murderer was convicted and sentenced to death. | |
November 16, 1995 | Linda Sobek | A 27-year-old model and former Los Angeles Raiders cheerleader who disappeared while on assignment. Salacious details of the case were printed in the national media. Her murderer was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. | |
May 25, 1996 | Kristin Smart | A 19-year-old college student disappeared on campus of California Polytechnic State University. Her disappearance resulted in state legislation, including the Kristin Smart Campus Security Act. | |
December 25, 1996 | JonBenét Ramsey | A 6-year-old girl who was killed in her family's home. | |
June 23, 1997 | Kristen Modafferi | An 18-year-old college student who disappeared from the San Francisco Bay Area, and as of 2023, remains missing. Her disappearance, just 3 weeks after her 18th birthday, helped to establish Kristen's Law and the National Center for Missing Adults. | |
June 27, 2000 | Molly Bish | A 16-year-old girl who disappeared after being dropped off at her lifeguarding job. Her remains were not found for three years, despite extensive searching and publicity. | |
July 1, 2000 | Sarah Payne | An 8-year-old girl who was abducted from a cornfield while playing with her siblings. Her death led to the government allowing limited access to the sex offender registry. | |
June 18, 2001 | Danielle Jones | A 15-year-old girl murdered by her uncle; her body has never been recovered. | |
May 1, 2001 | Chandra Levy | A 24-year-old intern disappeared while she had an affair with married representative Gary Condit. | |
January 10, 2002 | Rachel Cooke | A 19-year-old college student who disappeared while jogging in Georgetown, Texas. Her disappearance was publicized nationally, but she is still missing. | |
February 1, 2002 | Danielle van Dam | A 7-year-old girl who disappeared from her bedroom. | |
March 21, 2002 | Amanda "Milly" Dowler | A 13-year-old girl who disappeared after school. Her remains were found after an extensive six-month search, and the case played a significant role in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. | |
June 5, 2002 | Elizabeth Smart | A 14-year-old girl, missing for 9 months after being in captivity. Her captor was sentenced to life in prison. | |
August 4, 2002 | Jessica Chapman | Two 10-year-old girls murdered while returning from a shopping trip. | |
Holly Wells | |||
August 29, 2002 | Audrey Herron | A 31-year-old woman and mother of three who disappeared after leaving work. | |
December 24, 2002 | Laci Peterson | A 27-year-old pregnant woman murdered by her husband Scott Peterson. The case led to the implementation of "Laci and Connor's Law", which defines violence against a pregnant woman as violence against two separate legal subjects (the mother and the unborn child). | |
March 23, 2003 | Jessica Lynch | A 19-year-old Private First Class injured and taken prisoner at the Battle of Nasiriyah. | |
November 22, 2003 | Dru Sjodin | A 22-year-old student who was found murdered. Her murderer was convicted, and the case prompted the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Registry. | |
February 1, 2004 | Carlie Brucia | An 11-year-old girl who was kidnapped from a car wash and later murdered. The surveillance video showing the kidnapping gained nationwide attention. | |
March 27, 2004 | Audrey Seiler | A 20-year-old college student who was found alive after an extensive search; it was later revealed she had fabricated the incident. | |
May 24, 2004 | Brooke Wilberger | A 19-year-old student who was abducted and murdered. Her murderer revealed the location of her body and was convicted. | |
July 19, 2004 | Lori Hacking | A 27-year-old woman murdered by her husband. | |
February 24, 2005 | Jessica Lunsford | A 9-year-old girl abducted from her home and later murdered. Her death led to more restrictive monitoring of sex offenders, known as Jessica's Law. | |
April 26, 2005 | Jennifer Wilbanks | A 32-year-old woman who fabricated her disappearance to avoid marriage. | |
May 30, 2005 | Natalee Holloway | An 18-year-old American high school graduate who disappeared in Aruba. Her disappearance resulted in an international media sensation, the coverage contributed to the term "missing white woman syndrome" being brought into greater public awareness. She was declared legally dead on January 12, 2012. | |
September 5, 2005 | Taylor Behl | A 17-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University freshman who disappeared and was later found dead. Her murderer was convicted. | |
October 7, 2006 | Michelle Gardner-Quinn | A 21-year-old undergraduate at the University of Vermont who disappeared and was later found dead. Her murderer was convicted. | |
February 9, 2007 | Tara Grant | A 35-year-old woman murdered by her husband. | |
May 3, 2007 | Madeleine McCann | A 3-year-old girl who disappeared from her parents' hotel room during a family holiday in Portugal. Described by The Daily Telegraph as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history". The case remains unsolved. | |
June 16, 2008 | Caylee Anthony | A 2-year-old girl reported missing in Florida by her grandmother after 31 days. After her mother was controversially acquitted of her murder, several American states passed or proposed versions of "Caylee's Law", making it a felony for parents to fail to report their children missing to authorities. | |
January 24, 2009 | Marta del Castillo | A 17-year-old Spanish middle-class high school student who disappeared in Seville, Andalusia. Despite extensive searches and the conviction of her killer, her body has never been found. | |
February 9, 2009 | Haleigh Cummings | A 5-year-old girl kidnapped from her father's trailer in Satsuma, Florida. | |
October 5, 2009 | Aisling Symes | A 2-year-old girl who disappeared from her home in Auckland, New Zealand. She was feared abducted; shortly after, her body was found in a drain near her home a week later. It was determined that she was the victim of accidental drowning, after wandering off from her mother's side while she was carrying out household chores. Tim Hulme, writing for The Sunday Star-Times, surmised that age was a much greater factor than race or class in the extensive media coverage the case garnered. | |
April 13, 2011 | Holly Bobo | A 20-year-old nursing student who disappeared from her home in Darden, Tennessee. Her remains were found in September 2014. Two men have been charged with her murder and kidnapping. | |
June 3, 2011 | Lauren Spierer | A 20-year-old Indiana University student who disappeared after a night of drinking. She remains missing. | |
August 3, 2013 | Hannah Anderson | A 16-year-old California high school student who was kidnapped by a family friend after cheerleading practice. She was found in Idaho after a weeklong national search. | |
September 13, 2014 | Hannah Graham | An 18-year-old University of Virginia student who was kidnapped and murdered by an acquaintance. Her remains were found approximately five weeks after her disappearance. | |
August 22, 2016 | Diana Quer | An 18-year-old girl from a wealthy Madrid family who disappeared while vacationing in A Pobra do Caramiñal, Galicia. | |
November 2, 2016 | Sherri Papini | A 34-year-old woman from Redding, California, faked her abduction in order to spend time with her ex-boyfriend. | |
July 16, 2018 | Mollie Tibbetts | 20-year-old who disappeared while jogging near her home in Brooklyn, Iowa. Her body was discovered over a month later on August 21. | |
October 15, 2018 | Jayme Closs | A 13-year-old girl was abducted from the Barron, Wisconsin home of her parents, both of whom were killed during the incident. She escaped her captor 88 days later. | |
December 1, 2018 | Grace Millane | A 22-year-old British tourist from a wealthy family who disappeared while visiting New Zealand. Her body was discovered in a rural area of Auckland just over one week after she went missing. A man was subsequently convicted of her murder. | |
March 3, 2021 | Sarah Everard | A 33-year-old white British middle-class woman who disappeared after leaving a friend's house in London. On March 10, police searching woodland at Great Chart in Kent found human remains. Two days later, it was confirmed to be the body of Everard. | |
September 11, 2021 | Gabby Petito | A 22-year-old American woman from Suffolk County, New York, who was reported missing while traveling across the United States with her fiancé. Her family lost contact with her in late August when she was in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. | |
September 2, 2022 | Eliza Fletcher | A 34-year-old kindergarten teacher from a upper-class family who disappeared while jogging in Memphis, Tennessee. Her abductor and killer was identified and imprisoned. | |
January 1, 2023 | Ana Walshe | A 39-year-old Serbian-American woman from Cohasset, Massachusetts, who disappeared early in the morning on New Year’s Day. | |
January 27, 2023 | Nicola Bulley | A 45-year-old British woman from St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire disappeared while she was walking her dog. |
See also
References
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Notes
- Note: White and Hispanic missing person files are combined in the compilation.
- Note: The United States Census Bureau has estimated that the U.S. population has been majority female since 1946.
Further reading
- Wanzo, Rebecca (2008). "The Era of Lost (White) Girls: On Body and Event". Differences. 19 (2): 99–126. doi:10.1215/10407391-2008-005.
- Missing Woman Ignored Because She's Black? article about the lack of coverage around Athena Curry's disappearance, missing since May 2011.
External links
- blackandmissing.org – Black and Missing But Not Forgotten