In the case of missing 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley out of Tempe, Arizona, we witnessed a story that went unnoticed by many media outlets throughout the country.
STORY: Grim New Evidence! The Search For Missing 5 Y/O Jhessye Shockley Turns Ugly
Jhessye was reported missing by her mother, Jerice Hunter, on October 11th, 2011. Without great media exposure, the likelihood of finding young Jhessye seemed grim. It took investigators weeks to simply get the approval to search a landfill that Glendale, Arizona Police Officer Tracey Breeden said officers believed the missing child was in.
Officer Breeden stated that there needed to be an “analysis to determine the likelihood of success of recovering Jhessye’s body.”
When national media provides fair coverage, preposterous excuses, such as the one made by Officer Breeden, for not moving forward with searches are avoided. It is much more likely that when the national media gives due coverage, the public becomes more attentive, and authorities move swiftly to find answers.
We need to be certain that we’ve utilized all of our resources in the attempt to find our lost ones who quickly become forgotten.
TV One’s new television series Find Our Missing takes the problem of underrepresented people who go missing head on. It takes initiative, revealing the stories of those who have gone unknown because of their identities or because of where they are from.
Hosted by actress S. Epatha Merkerson, Find Our Missing premieres January 18 @ 10pm EST on TV One.
