There have been a lot of reports of missing people in the news. Some get more coverage than others and I’m not sure what drives that. My best guess is that the families drive the amount of attention that they want drawn to the case. That and the situation surrounding the disappearance, like pregnant mothers and small children. Personally I think they all deserve equal coverage but I think there are too many cases these days. Perhaps someone should create a missing persons channel. Hey I think I’m on to something here. It would be a good way to get pictures out to the general public.
Recently there was a case of a missing woman in WI, Francine Tate. There were also 2 other missing women in WI at the same time, Kelly Nolan who was found dead and then Mahalia Xiong who was just found in her car that went into a lake (or a river). Before Francine was found alive and before Mahalia’s car was found in the water, there were reports that perhaps there was a serial killer on the loose. 3 women missing around the same area, it’s possible. It turns out that was not the case. Francine was found alive, for whatever reason she up and left her life. She knew that people were looking for her, she even saw her picture on a missing person sign, but didn’t contact anyone to just say that she was still alive and just needed to be alone. A day or so later, Mahalia’s car was found submerged and it seems as if that was just a tragic accident.
All three cases were given a fair amount of coverage, which was good since all 3 were eventually found, although not all alive. The case that should disturb me most is Kelly Nolan, we still don’t know how she died but it seems like foul play was involved, but it’s more the case of Francine Tate. Anyone who watchs tv, reads a paper or surfs the net hears of missing people all the time. I believe it’s a serious issue for this country. It bothers me that Francine just picked up and left, more unsetteling is that she knew her loved ones were concerned and looking for her. This selfish act is not only hurtful to her family, friends and community, it’s also a waste of tax payers dollars. Just like the run away bride, people need to get a grip and face the music. Sure life is tough but there are many ways to handle these situations without causing concern to loved ones and wasting the time of law enforcement. This only takes time away from those people who are missing against their own will.
