My Mind, My Body, My Journey™ 

As the nation watched the details of the Carlee Russell case, we experienced mixed emotions and feelings. Many felt fear that Carlee was a victim of human trafficking and feared that someone was using a small child to abduct someone. Others experienced relief that a missing Black woman was getting national attention. Others felt a sense of joy that Carlee’s community members worked together for her safe return home. Those feelings turned into relief when Carlee returned home; later those feelings turned to anger as it appears that some aspects of her story could not be verified by law enforcement. Others used the opportunity to poke fun at her with memes and videos at her expense. I am someone who believes that the truth will come out, so I believe that will occur in Carlee’s case. Whether or not the public will learn the truth will be another story. Our focus on Carlee’s story, shouldn’t take away from the focus on the need to uplift and raise awareness on the number of missing women and children, whose cases often go unsolved.

I believe that this increased attention can be used to highlight the facts, trends, and unsolved cases of missing women and children. It can also be used to educate the public on warning signs that someone may be a victim of human trafficking. The Carlee Russell case has taught us, that missing women of color can receive national attention and can receive support from individuals from various ethnic groups. The Carlee Russell case also highlighted some areas that need improvement. For example, the Hoover Police Department revealed that Carlee’s search history included research on Amber Alerts. Amber Alerts are issued when a minor is missing, but we do not have a universal reporting system to alert the nation to missing adults. Typically, there is a delay in being able to report an adult as missing, such as needing to wait 24 hours, which can be damaging to the investigation as law enforcement has a shorter window to gather evidence. There are also some barriers in reporting the incidents of missing Indigenous women and children. In 2018, the Urban Indian Health Institute issued a report that highlighted the barriers in reporting the number of missing Indigenous women and children who are later found murdered.¹ The report explores barriers in data collection, law enforcement response, and media coverage¹. The report details will likely trigger a variety of emotions, but I think it is important for people to be aware of these issues to drive systemic improvement and change. Similar barriers in data collection, law enforcement response, and media coverage have been reported among missing Black and Latina women. Recent studies have shown that the media favors white women victims when compared to Black and Latina victims². This study highlights that there are a variety of factors that influence whether a case is newsworthy and whether the case will receive media coverage outside of the local jurisdiction. For Carlee’s case it could have been her wealth and education background that made her story more worthy of national attention. It could have also been due to the fears and concerns that we were observing the beginning of a human trafficking case and possible child abduction. Eventually, the public will lose interest in Carlee’s case, and we will see less memes and videos poking fun at her expense. However, for thousands of missing woman and children, justice is not often served and surviving loved ones do not always get closure or resolution. For those families, Carlee’s case is likely triggering and re-traumatizing. For those who want to do more for missing women and children, please research advocacy groups in your area and work with your legislators to advocate for systematic changes in how missing women and children cases are handled.

References

1. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Urban Indian Health Institute Website. https://www.uihi.org/resources/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-girls/. Accessed July 23, 2023.
2. Slakoff DC & Fradella HF. Media messages surrounding missing women and girls: The “missing white woman syndrome” and other factors that influence newsworthiness. Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society. 2019; 20(3): 80-102. https://ccjls.scholasticahq.com/article/11134-media-messages-surrounding-missing-women-and-girls-the-missing-white-woman-syndrome-and-other-factors-that-influence-newsworthiness. Accessed July 23, 2023.