I posted quite a bit of this in a couple of comments in ongoing discussions in my archives, but I felt like putting it here as well, as some of the comments are pretty pointless.
Does anyone know who Sujey Alvarez, Abigail Louise Angel, Amanda Bailey, Ana Benitez, Amber Janae Branham, Nikki Evans Earnest, Sharnecia Monique Frazier, Bobbie Jo Glaze, Venus Grier, Rachel Lynn Harris, Julian Tiberius Hernandez, Jessica Jean Linderman, Kasie Lynn Mcguire, Rosa Perez, Nicole Marie Rockwell, Heaven Lashae Ross, Cameron Justin Smith, Natalie Dale Spruill, Darlene Nicole Tolbert, Fred Wright, Mary Jordan Wright are?
Need a hint? They are all missing children from Alabama. They include two blacks and three hispanics. The rest are white.
Well, how about Reyna Gabriella Alvarado-Carerra (thanks to Kuro5hin for the op piece)? She has been missing since a few weeks before Natalie Holloway.
Know what they ALL have in common? They are not being beaten like a dead horse on CNN and FOX. Why not? I know that each one of them has someone that cares about them and wants to find them. You don’t see F-15’s doing fly-bys to look for them, now do you? Apparently, these missing children just aren’t newsworthy enough. Or maybe it is the people that WATCH CNN and FOX that don’t give a fuck. Not pretty and blonde enough for you or something? Actually, I am sure that at least one of these kids has to be a pretty blonde, but they are the exception that proves the rule.
How about Jon-Benet Ramsey? Heard of her? Of course you have. Even Ted Kazinsky has probably heard of her.
I did manage to see mention of Latoyia Figueroa on both FOX, and more prominently on CNN. She is a mother, also five months pregnant, from Philadelphia, who has been missing since July 18th. Damn, why so long to report the news about her? That’s because she is black and from the ghetto. So why is she being reported on now? Thanks to Richard Blair of allspinzone.com, a blogger. As Richard notes, Natalie Holloway rates aver 5600 news hits on Google, while Latoyia Figueroa rates about 77 (and that is mostly thanks to Richard).
Personally, I think that ALL of these disappearances are tragic, and would like for all of these people to be reunited with those that love them. That having been said, for those of you that have so vehemently disagreed with what I have been saying for weeks about Natalie Holloway being a big deal because she is blonde, white and pretty, you can go fuck yourself. I will respectfully NOT agree to disagree.
One of the things that I have found interesting over the last few weeks has to do with the number of hits that I receive. Obviously, I am not a soothing read that thousands of people flock to (at least I hope the fuck not). My normal readership is anywhere from 10-75 people per day, myself and my wife probably making up 20% of the hits. Since Natalie disappeared, I have been receiving THOUSANDS of hits per day, the highest day being somewhere around 4700 if I recall correctly. The last couple of days, that has dipped back below 100. Now, a couple of things could be happening here. I may have so completely disgusted and pissed off all of the entertainment news junkies out there that they are flocking to ban my sorry ass, or maybe they find that the Natalie Holloway story is getting stale and need a little bit of strange, you know, some new action. While I would like to think that it is the former, I think the second scenario is the culprit. Well, you know what they say, joke yourself if you can’t take a fuck.
Gosh, does everything have to do with race? It’s so tiring and boring. So many young, white, beautiful girls go missing and the news media do not go crazy. There are unique factors in each situation that make the disappearances such as Natalie Holloway interesting and will get views to watch. That’s what this is all about, ratings. Natalie was in Arubu at the very young age of 18. (what were her parents thinking!!!!) She was last seen with a young man of promanence drinking and partying her last night away.
It’s interesting not because she is white but because of all of the other circumstances surrounding the situation. And of course, the mother has flown over there and from the very beginning has been a major force in getting anything done in trying to find out what happened to her daughter. This isn’t about race, it’s about ratings.
I couldn’t agree with u more, it angers me to see how much coverage is given to Natalie H and other kids that are missing are not even heard of!
I was reading in some site where people will not visit Aruba after this incident…well in that case the same people should leave the US as there alot more cases of missing kids here and the Government is sitting on their ass!
I don’t belive the amount of money spent on this case, it could have fed a few 100 children in a third world country and saved a 100 lives!
As the mother of a missing 21 year old daughter (by the way, who only made the local news in Buffalo NY… we live 70 miles SE of Buffalo… and also in our local newspapers), I am very disappointed in the rudeness of some of the post I have seen on the web. Regardless of anyone’s opinion, there is a very young girl who is missing and probably dead…. unless you have ever been through the horrendous ordeal of one of your children having been or are missing, you have no right to form an opinion about any of it…. there are many times when someone that is missing, needs to have a low-key news coverage, it helps investigators to keep from running down false leads from those who just like to get involved and from rumors….there are also people who might know something, but are afraid to talk… especially if there is too much news coverage.
In Natalee’s case, it is very important to have the news coverage… I can’t imagine how horrible her mother would feel, if years down the road, she did nothing or very little to do everything in her power to help find her daughter. The grief (if this girl is dead)is beyond words… the loss of your child is the ultimate tragedy…. when families are going through this… they do not know what to do, they will make lots of mistakes…. I wish I would have contacted more people too, I just did not want any of this to be happening.
My daughter, Tammy Renee Smith… had been missing from January 30, 2003 and found March 28, 2003 – one day before what was to be her 22nd birthday (instead of celebrating her birthday, an autopsy was being performed, she had been shot at through the back passenger side of her car (she was in the drivers seat) with #2 birdshot… 8 pellets were found in the right side of her head…. she started screaming and took of in her car… she had front wheel drive and because she probably floored the gas pedal, she lost control (this happened on the top of a hill which was snow-covered….) and went off the side of the dirt road into two small pine trees and a ditch.
She got out of her car and ran down the snowcovered dirt road and he ran after her, got close and shot again. She had put up her right hand behind her head in self-defense, she had 22 pellets in her baby finger and a small fracture to a bone.
He then knocked her down, beat her face with the gun in his hand, then he choked her to death, he then reloaded the gun and tried to shoot her in the chest… the bullet was a dud… he then dragged her off the road, about 30 feet into a small circle of pine trees, he ripped off her jeans and panties (right leg completely bare, left leg had panties below the knee, jeans stayed on inside out at the foot, because of her shoe)…. he then covered her with snow and left her there for 2 months and 1 day.
That night it dropped below minus 7 degrees in town (valley), so it would have been much colder on the the top of that hill. Tammy was still frozen to the ground when she was found, her belly area was the only area on her body that showed any decomp. Her body was able to tell the Coroner, State Police, etc., what happened to her.
My daugter’s murderer was sentenced almost 1 1/2 years later (November 2004) to 20 years to LIFE, with no appeals.
My heart goes out to any family that must endure such a horrible tragedy. There should be no comments made… such as FUCK Natalee Holloway, she did not create this problem, she at 18 years old made a horrible mistake of trusting others of her own age….
Families need to know what to do if a family member (especially your child) becomes a missing victim… more news coverage to help people understand what to do if this ever happened to them would be the best solution and much better then people being critical about what has or has not happened for one person over an other….
Debbie Baker, Angel Tammy’s Mom
Debbie, you have my heartfelt condolences on your loss.
Even when people have not faced a loss such as this, they ARE going to form opinions, whether right or wrong. Telling them that they don’t have a right to an opinion is sort of like telling people who don’t vote that they don’t have a right to bitch about the results (personally I agree with you on this) but people DO bitch anyway, just as they inform opinions, myself included.
I think that the couple of people that have said “fuck natalie” are just attention getters. Sometimes it is easier for us to butt our heads in where they don’t belong.
You also bring up a good point that I haven’t looked at, in that sometimes they DON’T need a lot of media coverage to get in the way of the investigation.
You have brought a singularly unique perspective to the blog in your post, and I appreciate the fact that you are able to let people know what happened in your life.
Since I posted, three more people posted and one is a grieving Mom who has gone through losing a missing child. I can’t even begin to imagine what this Mom has been through or all the other Mom’s, Dad’s, and relatives of these missing people go through.
I don’t like the opinions of the original posters that on blonde white and pretty get media attention. That is so untrue. As I watched the Nancy Grace Headline News tonight a young pregnanent mother (BLACK) named Latoya Figueroa has been missing for two weeks and what is being done about that. Her family was interviewed and stated that she never left home like this that something bad has happened to her.
Also, on this same program Nancy Grace focused on an Hispanic woman who was found at the bottom of a cliff and her hispanic husband is alleged to have pushed her over the edge because after two weeks of marriage she wanted an annulment.
So, I don’t see that the news media is only interested in white, blonde, and female.
You don’t see it as racism because it isn’t your reality! Just because you see one story where they mention missing people of color for 1 second, doesn’t mean people of color are getting the same media attention. Take your head out of your ass please!
“fuck Natalie Holloway”??? How cruel do you have to be to say something like this. Yes, it is sad that there are thousands of children missing and they don’t have the media attention that Natalie has, but seriously the media is Natalies only hope.
Do you all not realize that if the Holloway-Twitty family were not keeping the media in Aruba, they wouldn’t have a chance of finding out what happened to their daughter. As soon as the media pulls out of Aruba the case is over.
So before you say how sick and racist the media is, think about that.
LJ, if you had actually read my post you would see that Latoyia was prominently mentioned in it, as a matter of fact, I linked to the BLOG that had brought it to national attention, which is the only reason that she received the coverage that she did. And oh by the way, exactly how much coverage have you seen on CNN and FOX about her since August 31st? NONE on CNN, they have exactly one story on their website from the 27th. And FOX’s site? Three hits. They did happen to mention that the reward for her is now up to 100k. Do a search on Google and you will see that mention of her is up to an amazing 44,000+ thanks to blogs. 4 mentions between the two major news sources out of 44000, what the fuck is wrong with that picture. Of course, that is compared to 135,000 links for Natalie.
There is a serious imbalance here, and it is not all about race, that much is true. What it IS about is what the News MEDIA thinks is more important and sells. The News MEDIA is just that, Media, entertainment. Not just news. News doesn’t sell.
Just as much as you may find people to bring in racism and or /elitism in this, I’m as equally irritated for people such as yourself denying it. I remember looking at a talk show where there was a simialr arguement about this, only it wasn’t about Natalie Holloway at the time. Anyways, there were a lot of people asking why is it that more focus are put on White or rich people and not poor/Black people. Intially I thought the answer was going to be like yours–in denial, but it was rather interesting and admissive.They said that the reasons that White?rich kids may get more media coverage is because of 1) Supposedly, People could “relate” to people who are more like them2)They feel that it’s more interesting because of who they are.
3)Media is given stories from law enforcement . Who ever they think is top news, will be given more attention.
And it’s funny , sicne you want to deny things, check this one: Do you remember when Michael Jordan’s father was killed? There we’re a lot of Black North Carolians and just Black people in general who was enraged with North Carolina law enforcement. The story was that when they first found the body of what was then an unknown Black male, they didn’t put any focus on the body, and only assigned one guy to the case,but when they found out that it was his father, The NCPD decided to assign more detectives on the case andmade a fuss of it. What were they delusional. No, They were angry because The NCPD thoughts were ” he just another Black man dead” and that they only was concerned when they knew that he was the father of Michael Jordan.
Even with the very first post, this guy is being indiscriminate with those missing children. Still, the problem with racism and or/elistism still exist. At least he got his facts: The case of Natalie Holloway got over 4000 hits, while Latoya Figueroa got over 77, now you tell me and some other concerned posters why is that? Did they just make a mistake? Get real!
This didn’t come from the mouth of a Black person as you may think. This came from the mouth of a White author.
I think the world is reeling over Natalie Holloway’s disappearance. I find her case to be very interesting, but all children and adult deserve the same media coverage as she is getting.There are parents who are crying everyday for their children to be home with them and to be found safely. Do you think it’s fair that they only get to see a day or two of their children being posted on TV, while she get nearly three months of coverage?! Unless they start being fair about it, they shouldn’t do it. It’s not right( and you know go and well it isn’t and yes I see racism and or/elitism in this all the way)
I’ve managed to save up roughly $67525 in my bank account, but I’m not sure if I should buy a house or not. Do you think the market is stable or do you think that home prices will decrease by a lot?
I was sitting here at my office this morning wondering what was the latest on Natalie Holloway because I haven’t heard anything in a while and I stumbled on this web site and read some of the things you had to say. And my mind is racing with comments and gestures that I would like to tell you I dont even know where to begin. What kind of person are you? Do you even have children? It does not matter what color what hair style what height what weight none of that the fact of the matter is that an innocent person is missing. Like someone else said it’s the situation and the way things are happening and have happened that has caught so many peoples eyes around the world. Personally I think YOU are the one craving all the news and publicity. Yes there are millions that are missing and Natalie is not the only one, what are you doing to help these families find there love ones? Instead of running your mouth why don’t you start a web page and post pictures and start doing something for the less fortunate families that don’t have the money to offer a reward or fly around the world to investigate since you are so opinionated. Shut your mouth and help others. I am a mother of three and my heart goes out to all parents that are dealing with the loss of missing children or loved ones and I think society should come together (black and white) and do something to make our streets safer for the younger generation but it’s not because we have people like you that are so worried about whos doing what and what color they are that you miss what is actually taking place. So before you continue on about what race Natalie is and how pretty she was take a minute and put yourself in her moms shoes. Help change the situation instead of spectating it. Have a blessed day!