Why don't you know of this beautiful young woman?

[Stinky The Clown]

Her name is Phylicia Barnes. She just turned 17 years old. She's a top student. Her parents are telegenic, as is her sister.

AND SHE IS MISSING.

She's been missing for weeks. No one has seen her since Tuesday, December 28. She is from North Carolina and was in Baltimore, MD, visiting her sister. There is no sign of foul play. No sign of a struggle. That said, her cell phone and keys were found. Police are now thinking she's been abducted. No leads have turned anything and more leads are needed . . . . desperately.

Has the national media covered the story? Listening to the anguish of her parents and her sister is incredibly compelling. Listening to the daily updates, even as nothing is happening, is heartbreaking.

A few years ago there was a spate of tragic missing young woman stories. Constant media attention.

But why haven't you heard of her? Where are the stories about Phylicia?

Here are a few of the local stories.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2010/12/29/baltimore-police-search-for-missing-teen/

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/01/06/search-intensifies-for-phylicia-barnes/

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/01/12/family-marks-phylicia-barnes-17th-birthday/

[tkmorris]

1. That is just tragic

There's nothing I could add, just wanted to say that.

[Lucian]

2. How tragic.

Her parents must be devastated.

You know why we don't hear about it? Because she's not rich and white. Those are the only one's we hear about, and it sucks.

[thereismore]

3. Yes, that's it. nt

[virgogal]

4. Because she's not an attractive blond. How very sad.

[Orangepeel]

39. well, she's not blond....but she's very attractive

[virgogal]

43. She certainly is.

[blondeatlast]

5. DU had quite a long thread about her disappearance, IIRC. Still--the media--

nothing.

god bless her and keep her safe.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. I found it.

It was from yesterday. It got 10 recs but seems to have sunk like a rock.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=226046

[blondeatlast]

13. I think there was once from earlier--I could be wrong but her pic looked familiar.

But yeah--not a gawddamned word in the Schnnoze.

[mahina]

6. She deserves air time 24-7

Good luck sister, wherever you are.

[malaise]

7. She's not just black

she also has West Indian connections. We don't count for much. :cry:

[Stinky The Clown]

37. I didn't see any West Indian connection.

I've not heard about that aspect of the story yet. What have you heard?

[Cali_Democrat]

8. If she had blond hair and blue eyes the media would be all over this

It's too bad she doesn't look like Natalie Halloway because, if she did, there would be more focus on this story.

[PufPuf23]

23. Correct spelling is Natalee Holloway (not to dispute far too much coverage of the Holloway case).

Right now there are two posters for missing young American Indian women at the one local market from the immediate area. I define immediate area to include a 50 mile driving radius (and two Reservations) with less than 10,000 total population. The only media coverage has been in a weekly Indian newspaper published on the Reservation, not the regional daily papers from the county seats.

Holloway was well connected and even one step removed from Iran-Contra / BCCI involved individuals and rated mention in State Department briefings. There is more to the Holloway disappearance than a missing white blond from Alabama.

[karynnj]

77. I never heard of any BCCI connections

The state department would be involved because she disappeared in a different county and later the likely suspect killed someone in another country.

[PufPuf23]

80. Ed Rogers (rated chapter in Senate BCCI report)

and Lanny Griffith were co-owners with Wally Nall of the Medjet sent to Aruba the first week. One of the Twitty family Fab 7 is the brother of Margeret Debart. Tutwiller, former chief of Staff for James Baker and GWB's ambassador to Morroco.

One of the other jets used by the Twitty's and their posse were was used for rendition flights.

etc ect PM me if you are interested.

[karynnj]

81. After reading your post - I read the Wikipedia article - and this was a pretty weird

story. I obviously had not followed it - any more than we all kind of had to as there were hours of coverage.

[Liquorice]

31. You would be shocked if you knew how many blond haired girls are also

missing and not reported on nationally in this country.

[emilyg]

32. Correct.

[whathehell]

49. Thank you....Maybe men of all hair colors

missing at the hands of women might rate more news.:eyes:

They're certainly rare enough.

[Darth_Kitten]

51. Exactly.....it's not a contest, folks. Why make the distinction?

n/t

[MedicalAdmin]

56. Here's a website.

FYI - she popped up at the top of this page when I opened it.

It's tragic just how screwed up this is. DId you know that women and children who are trafficed into this country and used sexually are given help but if the child is a citizen then those same resources are not there for them. I am not suggesting that we get rid of the resources but rather open the federal resources and expand them for those who are exploited regardless of birthplace.

Here's the link to the Center for missing and exploited children - missing kids page. http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/BannerServlet

[uponit7771]

65. So you're saying blonds are undereported and brown skin folk aren't?

[Rockholm]

9. Where are the stories?

The first I have heard of this.

[Contrary1]

10. And it's not just beautiful young women who go missing...

Maybe you can help a family locate a lost one:

"This site provides an opportunity for families, law enforcement agencies and investigators to search nationwide for missing persons using a variety of powerful search features. Anyone may search the database, but by registering in the system both law enforcement professionals and the general public will also be able to:

Add new missing persons cases
Add physical and circumstantial details, photographs, dental contacts and other critical pieces of information to a case
Create and print missing persons posters
Track multiple cases as information is added to the system

With your help, we can increase the number of missing persons cases solved each year providing closure for families and law enforcement officials nationwide.

https://www.findthemissing.org/

[FLAprogressive]

12. Missing White Woman Syndrome is sadly a very real thing.

[Riftaxe]

14. Same reason we don't know about the other 1,999

children that went missing that day (http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2810">average per day).

But would it be safe to presume that you want to exploit this particular young lady's disappearance for some political point?

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. Don't exaggerate. 700k+ are REPORTED missing each year,

but 2/3 are runaways, or misunderstandings, and are quickly resolved. 200k are parental abductions. 50k are 'non-parental' abductions, by other family members or family friends. Slightly more than 100/yr are stranger abductions.

This, however, does seem to be one of those 100. Bright, pretty girl, good student, no notable problems at home, had no reason to just disappear.

What's YOUR political motive for scaring people about abductions?

[MedicalAdmin]

59. So what was your point?

If it wasn't political then that's cool. I suspect it wasn't, but I would appreciate some clarification.

If you are anything like me your point is that shit like this is happening and it sucks and more should be done. Having said that, it seems like your point was more about the media, is that correct?

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[madinmaryland]

15. WBAL-TV has been covering this also. Oh wait, you meant the natinal media.

Yeah. I think we all know the reason. I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for the flair nostrils of injustice starts covering her disappearance.

[LynneSin]

16. That's easy to answer - she's not a pretty blonde white girl

She is a beautiful girl but the news likes to run these stories on with pretty white girls.

If she was the news would cover that story 24x7

My prayers go out to the parents of this girl, I do hope they find her soon enough!

[cali]

20. no, it's not that simple. I can guarantee you never heard of this pretty blond 17 year old

who went missing almost 7 years ago with strong indications of foul play. It only got local coverage.

http://www.wptz.com/news/21102827/detail.html

[MedicalAdmin]

60. I did hear about her.

But then again I don't own a TV so I have no idea what the so called national media / journalists / meat puppets are doing. I also do some volunteering at the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center so I am pretty dialed into this so I am not in the middle of the bell curve.

[cali]

74. well, I heard about the girl in the OP

as have lots of other people on this thread. And I'm amazed you heard about this girl, as she got virtually no national press.

[Fuzz]

17. I saw a story on, I think, CNN about this.

[patrice]

18. I can think of no response that is not dwarfed by what this family is going through.

I hope Phylicia comes home and God be with her mother through this.

[JanMichael]

19. it's all over the news in NC

I wish it were nationally. Sickening that it is not.

[Hissyspit]

46. Yes, been following it here locally in SE NC.

[Joanne98]

21. Nancy Grace did her a couple of times.

[MedicalAdmin]

61. Ummmm - as much as I think Nancy Grace is a big old ^%&*(*&&

Do you want to rephrase your post?


"The entrendre is doubled in this one." - Master Yoda

[EFerrari]

22. Kick

[FarLeftRage]

26. I heard about her on the local news

Yesterday... and I'm in Northern New York state.

[GoCubsGo]

27. I saw it on one of the morning shows today.

It was either the Today Show or the Early Show. Don't remember which one I had on at the time.

[bigwillq]

28. Saw it on the news.

Thanks for posting. More exposure of the story can't hurt.
Sad situation. I hope she is found alive.

[Liquorice]

29. I hope they find her soon. I have heard reports on this story several times. It's a

tragedy that there are so many missing people (mostly women) in this country, and we dont hear about the vast majority of them. I guess there are just too many. A family is lucky if they can get their missing loved one reported on by a national news source.

[myrna minx]

30. I can't imagine what her family is going through. K&R

[Catherina]

33. Thank you. I didn't know. Rec'd with anger. n/t

[politicasista]

34. This is very sad. Hope they can find her

Shame on Nancy Grace and MSM for ignoring this case.

[LisaL]

35. Because you don't watch Nancy Grace?

[Zywiec]

36. Lots of people know of this beautiful young woman! n/t

[spanone]

38. oddly enough the story was on nbc nightly news last night....

asking the same question...why don't you know about this??....my answer then was 'because YOU < the media > haven't told me about it'

[Liberal_in_LA]

40. kick

[ck4829]

41. She just turned 17 a week ago, this is just revolting

Does anything really think that she has the know-how to just disappear off the face of the planet and nobody would know about it?

K&R

[LibertyLover]

42. Since I live in Anne Arundel County, MD

sadly I know about her. The Baltimore police finally came out and said that the reason her story wasn't getting more play was because she wasn't white. She is a gorgeous, young, smart woman with so much life ahead of her that to think she might be a victim of foul play is sad. Here of course we hear about Phylicia every day. I hope for a good ending, but with each passing day it seems less and less likely.

[newtothegame]

44. Seen it multiple times on the news. nt

[pacalo]

45. K&R.

Good vibes & prayers for Phylicia. She's a beautiful young girl.

[Odin2005]

47. Because she isn't a rich blond white girl with elite connections.

Smart black girls don't get ratings.

We suck.

[cali]

50. and neither do working class or poor white blonds

I think you hit it with "elite".

[midnight]

48. K&R

[H2O Man]

52. I do.

Nancy Grace has been reporting on her case.

[MoonRiver]

53. I've heard about her on CNNHN's Jane Velasquez Mitchell show.

Also, via Nancy Grace if you can stand it.

[Enthusiast]

54. Well.

If she was blond of European ancestry it would have been all over the national media. Double standard.

[Tarc]

55. Missing White Woman Syndrome is a well-known media effect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome

[valerief]

57. Because American media is racist. nt

[IrishEyes]

58. I hope they find her safe

There are many missing children and adults in the United States. Whenever I see a missing persons poster, I think of the family and friends that are worrying about that person.

[Freddie Stubbs]

62. Washington Post, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, AP, CNN covering it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/19/AR2011011903816.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20027203-504083.html

http://abcnews.go.com/US/search-phylicia-barnes-continues-honor-student-missing-trip/story?id=12571023

http://www.nbc.com/news-sports/msnbc-video/where-is-missing-teen-phylicia-barnes/

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MISSING_NC_TEEN?SITE=TXWIC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/15/maryland.missing.girl/index.html?iref=allsearch

[Kingofalldems]

63. Fail again. No 24/7 coverage ala Natalie Holloway.

MSNBC has a story on why she has been ignored by the media. Fail. :shrug:

[Freddie Stubbs]

64. Natalie Hollway was not covered 24/7, unless all that you watch is Greta Van Susteren & Nancy Grace

[Kingofalldems]

66. She most certainly was.

[Freddie Stubbs]

67. So, no other news stories were covered during the Summer of 2005?

:shrug:

[Kingofalldems]

72. !5 min. per hour on regular cable news

On Fox at least 50 min. per hr. That's 24/7 coverage.

[Name removed]

75. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Soylent Brice]

68. : (

K&R

[Imagevision]

69. Hey Chris Mathews, Keith Olberman, Rachel! are you still with us? where is Phylicia Barnes!

[abelenkpe]

70. Is she rich?

Remember the girl who went missing in San Diego who police just assumed ran away and the investigation into her disappearance went no where? Months later a wealthy blond girl went missing while out running and they found the culprit almost immediately. Same guy who kidnapped and killed the other middle class girl. Justice and media coverage are for the rich.

I hope this young lady is found alive. You are doing a great service posting her pic and info. If more people would do so..on facebook, internet, on fliers around their community it would be a big help.

[Stuckinthebush]

71. On MSNBC now

I've seen it quite a bit which is good.

[SemperEadem]

73. Kicking for Phyllis

because this is important.

[Nye Bevan]

76. I hadn't heard of this missing teen either.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20029046-504083.html

I don't know why so many people like to turn things into racial issues.

[defendandprotect]

78. See your point, exactly -- shameful ....

but I wouldn't have heard of her because I don't really watch TV news --

Would KO report on this?

Or Maddow?

Or Schultz?

We probably need a separate network to report all of these missing people now?

Nothing like the rise of the right to bring chaos and crime --

[txwhitedove]

79. There are too many missing girls, period. Let's not make it a racial issue.

I saw an article about Phylicia on the front page of CNN on-line, so it's not so much an MSM issue either. There are TOO MANY missing girls and missing children. We have one right here a few blocks from my house who went missing last year. Got off the school bus but didn't make it to her house a few yards away, didn't show up at work, never seen or heard from again - just disappeared. Her pictures have been all over town, articles and news stories locally but NONE nationally. Ali is white, and still missing.