Few missing children ever make headlines

Police searched on Thursday for a 9-year-old Florida girl who disappeared mysteriously from her bed overnight eight days ago in the latest such case to grab the attention of the U.S. media and public at large. An estimated 800,000 children are reported missing in the United States every year, yet only a few of the cases ever grab full public and media attention.“You put your child to bed at night and you expect them to be there in the morning. That kind of case strikes a chord with the media,” said Ben Ermini of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Police have received hundreds of tips but no solid leads on the disappearance of Jessica Lunsford, who lived with her father and grandparents in Homosassa. She went to bed on Feb. 23 and was missing the next morning, her father told police.She is one of a handful of cases of missing children to rise to the top of the public's consciousness. Experts say parents, pictures, police and the media all play crucial roles in determining how much attention a disappearance gets.

The circumstances of the case — the “story” — may ultimately dictate how much news coverage the case generates and whether the child is found or lost. It is the tale that tugs at the heartstrings that pushes a disappearance into the public eye, child abduction and media experts say. The vast majority of missing children cases are runaways. In a 1999 study cited by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, more than 200,000 of the nearly 800,000 reports were abductions by relatives and over 58,000 were abductions by non-family members.The center estimates just over 100 cases a year are the worst kind — kidnappings, by strangers, with the child in imminent danger — and merit the media coverage afforded the shocking disappearances of Elizabeth Smart, Polly Klaas and other such well-known cases in the United States in recent years.”

“I think all of those cases deserve that kind of national attention,” said Ermini. He put Jessica Lunsford in that category. “We've had over 2,000 tips but nothing has panned out with any solid leads,” Gail Tierney, spokeswoman for the Citrus County sheriff, said of the search for Jessica.

Stranger Danger
Lee Condon, a special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said police prioritize missing children's cases based on the danger to the child. “When you have a case where the child might be with a sex offender or the child's life might be in danger ... those cases will get more attention,” she said.Good pictures of the missing child are crucial. Clear, recent photographs can drive the media story and the search as police and volunteers circulate fliers and put up posters. Powerful video like the surveillance camera tape that captured the 2004 Florida kidnapping of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, who was snatched as she walked behind a car wash, can push a case into the public eye. Sympathetic parents who make tearful pleas before TV cameras and cooperate with reporters are helpful. The age of the missing child is a critical factor. “A missing 2 year old is definitely in danger. Two year olds don't run away,” Condon said.How investigators deal with the media can play a role in what kind of coverage the case gets. A detective who reveals intriguing details to a reporter can make the story more interesting for the public. Whether a disappearance gets wide coverage may boil down to simple logistics. What other stories are competing for air time or space in the newspaper? Does a TV station have all its reporters committed to other stories? “I know that when we put out a missing child alert, some stations will use it and some won't,” said Condon. “That's frustrating.”

Story strikes a chord
Experts play down the role of gender, race and wealth in capturing attention. But rich parents can hire private detectives to work alongside the police and, in some cases, public relations people to keep the story before the media. Bob Steele, a media expert with the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, said newspaper editors, television producers and reporters can be influenced by their own biases that lurk beneath the intellectual decision-making. There is speculation, but no hard evidence, that the missing child's looks can influence the public interest.“We may look at a picture and be drawn to it and say 'Isn't he the cutest kid you've ever seen?”' Steele said. “In some cases, subconscious beliefs and biases affect the way we cover a story,” he said. “We might be less likely to cover a story because it doesn't strike a chord for us.”

Jim Loney
3 March 2005

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