Recently, there was a search for Kada Scott, a young Black woman who went missing in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, she was pronounced dead as her body was discovered this past weekend. Recently, there was another young Black woman, Dacara Thompson who went missing in Maryland. She too was found deceased. Hearing stories like these is scary. But, statistics show that 36% of missing cases are that of Black women and girls. In the general population, Black people only make up 7% of all people, so these number are alarming. Most cases do not end in them being found, so many are still on the missing list years after their disappearance.
A few weeks ago, I came across a story of a young woman name Susan Mann who went missing in 1980 from Queens, New York. Here body was just now identified 45 years later. Her remains were found two years after her disappearance in Nassau County, New York. But, the current advancement of technology allowed for identification. Since her disappearance both of her parents have since passed without closure. Now the case will go on to be investigated as a homicide.
The Black and Missing Foundation is a non-profit organization who seeks to create equality in missing person cases. Their mission is to create awareness of the disparity in finding Black missing persons and to create a platform where you can report a case. On October 29th, they are set to premiere a docuseries related to Relisha Rudd who went missing in 2014 at the age of 8. This date marks her 20th birthday. The details in her case are bizarre, but whether alive or deceased she has yet to be found. Until there is closure, they are keeping her story alive.
Being a young woman or girl in this world, you are often vulnerable to many different situations such as domestic abuse, trafficking, and murder. Being a young Black woman or girl, makes you even more vulnerable. In history of many cases, many are assumed to be runaways instead of victim. With the cases of Scott and Thompson, the outcome was not something the family and close friends wanted the outcome to be, but they have closure in a more timely fashion. For Mann, it took almost a half a century. And, for Relisha Rudd, we have yet to see how her story ends. See the trailer of the Relisha Rudd docuseries below. To see the list of others who are missing, you can visit the Black and Missing Foundations website here.