Black People Overrepresented Among America's Missing

In the case of Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who has admitted to faking her own disappearance, Russell’s lawyer has said he expects charges against the 25-year-old. The incident has left volunteers and the public stunned as the hoax emerged following a 911 call by Russell about seeing a toddler alone on a highway, a subsequent 48-hour search for her and her return home with claims of an abduction.

The incident made headlines before and after the shocking revelation and it has caused advocates for missing persons understandable unease. Data shows that Black people are hugely overrepresented among missing persons in the United States, yet media coverage is often criticized for focusing on the disappearances of white women. Now the case of Russell is overshadowing the conversation about race, public awareness and resource allocation in connection with missing persons.

According to the latest report by the FBI that lists all U.S. missing persons registered with National Crime Information Center, Black Americans made up around 37 percent of missing persons in the country despite only constituting 14 percent of the population. White and Asian people were underrepresented among the missing, while American Indians were also overrepresented.

Among Black and American Indian populations, it was more common for women to go missing, while the same was more likely for white men. For Asian people, there were no major differences between the genders.