Do you know who Alexis Patterson is?

[jfulcer]

I know who she is, do you know? Everyone here on the DIS <b><i>should</b></i> know who she is.

:( :( :( :( :( :(

[WDWfanatic288]

I'm sorry I dunno :(

I will think harder though...the name sounds kinda familiar

[Dan Murphy]

Another missing young girl, from Milwaukee. :(

http://www.alexispatterson.freeservers.com/

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

Thanks Dan.

[mickeyfan29]

yes. I know who she is....she is being brought up as a example of how the media gives more coverage to missing white children than to missing African American children. Another thing that happened was that they arrested a racist who placed a flier at Milwaukee's African American museum saying that why should white people care about a missing black girl.:mad:

[KimRaye]

No Jeff, until you & Dan posted, I hadn't heard about this. Very, very sad.:(

But, in Chicago, I think and feel, that ALL children are given equal time on newscasts (depending on WHO they know!). So, if either of my kids are ever (God Forbid) in this scenario, I know which relative to call to get it aired!

SAD, SAD situation for ALL the parents out there!

I think a cable channel would be doing right by airing ALL the Missing/Adbucted Children! Maybe at great cost but, I think the Grateful, loving, troubled Parents would help!

Thanks for the info. Sorry to read this news, though.

[nativetxn]

She's been missing more than 3 months! That's terrible. Her poor parents must be beside themselves :( I hope she is returned safely.

[CathyCanada]

This is so sad. I would be out of mind.
This needs a bump to page one to ensure that everyone knows who Alexis Patterson is. :(
CC

[CBRorBust]

You really scared me!

A friend of mine's name is also Alexis Patterson. I feel so bad for that poor little girl. My Boyfriend actually told me about her situation two weeks ago. Just sad.:(

[Jennyfyar]

I read about her several months ago, but I did not remember her name. My BF lives and teaches in Milwaukee and said this receives much media attention there. But, it should be national media!!

[Saffron]

It is so very sad. No I didn't know who she was or anything about her case. Thanks for posting the information Dan. :( I had heard that there was a racial bias when drawing media attention for missing children. I guess it's true. :(

[luvdzny]

Great post jfulcer, being from the Milwaukee area I know who she is. Unfortunately it seems her case does not get much national publicity. It is so sad, I sure hope they find her soon.

[Bob O]

I think the case has gottenthe proper amount of attention and more than enough police resources were spent on the investigation . It may not be fair to the child but when the father is a convicted felon and involved in a bank robbery that results in a officer being killed in the line of duty, they make less sympathetic figures than other people the press has to deal with.

[Saffron]

Wow!! I think it's horrible that a police officer was killed, just absolutely horrific, but does that mean that a seven year old, innocent little girl should have to pay for her father's crimes by becoming a "less sympathetic figure" in the eyes of the media??? That's heartless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

[Bob O]

It may be heartless, but the reality is that there are thousands of missing kids all over the country and not every one is going to get national attention. The media will give the most attention to the case that will get the most people too watch, and if a family has recent video of there child and are compelling they will get more attention than someone without video and where the case isnt as compelling. The reality is that the newscast are more about ratings than about educating people to what the news of the day is and there are alot of factors that will determine what cases will get the big buzz and which ones will get little media play

[mickeyfan29]

Bob O,
Is Danielle Van Dam a less sympathetic figure because her parents were swingers?

[shep]

I didn't know who she was until Dan posted..:(

[leahannpen]

This is so sad! No matter what the race/color etc. it is just plain SAD!!! I feel for her poor parents and I hope she is found safely.

And, Bob O. I can understand where you are coming from, but it still isn't right. She's an innocent little girl. :( It just makes me angry the world works this way. :mad: :(

[danacara]

They didn't get the press because the parents aren't all that media-savvy. It's heartless, but it's true. They didn't get the foundation together, no hounding, the family wasn't manning the phones, the pictures weren't all that compelling, and the felon father certainly didn't help matters. Basically, if your family runs with a bad crowd, people believe that you shouldn't be surprised when bad things happen to your family. The Danielle van Dam story has reeked of that, but swingers make for better news than thieves. Also, look at the girl from Philadelphia who escaped from her kidnappers a few weeks back - when it initially seemed to be a random grab, it was a leading story, but when it came out that the family dealt drugs, the uncle had been shot by the rival gang in February, and the father had stolen drugs from the kidnappers, the story dropped off the news in a day. Again, people think that when you do bad things, you should expect bad things to happen to you, and that expectation makes it less newsworthy. It is an unfortunate fact of life.

It is easy to blame racism, but having watched Rodney King, OJ, Amadou Diallo and other African-American individuals on the news for literally years on end, I find it hard to assume that racism kept a missing black girl off the news.

[Bob O]

I would agree with all of Danacara's post!!! It has nothing to do with racism and while it may not be fair that this case gets less attention, life isnt fair and the news media will cover stories they believe will attract the most viewers and base those decisions on what criteria they feel is important!

[mamajoan]

I am sorry to hear of this child's disappearance. This is the FIRST I have heard of it. Sad but true.
Her father's sin's should PLAY NO PART in the degree of sympathy her family should recieve regarding her disappearance.
I don't give a flying fig what her father did!!

I have a difficult time blaming racism, I tend to think the best of people. However, I do feel that racism is played out on national and local media somewhere in the USA every single day. That is sad but TRUE. I have learned to face some sad facts about human nature the hard way. Hopefully, my grandchildren will not feel the sting of racism as they grow up. I believe that we as a people can overcome the negative blight of racism in our world.

Thanks for the posting the information about this child.

[LuvN~Travel]

I agree with a previous poster that it is probably more economic than racist. Our newspaper just recently had an article on that very subject. One of the towns just outside of our city had a little missing girl last year (white, but poor family) and it really only made the local/state news, never nationally if I can remember correctly. Unfortunately they did find her body six weeks later, and no one has ever been arrested yet. I don't think they even have a clue to who it may have been.
The media does go for the dollars and the attention grabbing factor too much, IMO.
Kim

[shortbun]

Gee BobO-If you, as a police officer, feel that
Alexis is a "less sympathetic character", I
have to wonder about this case getting
"proper police attention." Did your police chief
issue a warning to the kidnapper like the
one issued by the Sheriff in Marin County?
"We are coming for you! we will not rest until
you are found!"
That guy really impressed
me-he was determined and rabid in his race
to find the perpetrator of that crime. Now that's
policework!

Racism plays a part
all lines of work and all aspects of everyday life
too. The naivety/denial on this issue amazes me.
Listen when people talk to you-they always
feel compelled to identify the race of an
individual, pertinent or not. That's racism folks!

Hard to believe nobody
saw a thing at the playground. I heard about
this case a long time ago and saw the mom
being interviewed on national tv. You are
absolutely right about the media being all
about ratings though. The interviewer wanted
to talk about the crimes of the father at that
time.
Very sad, all of it.

[MosMom]

The media portion of Bob's post didn't bother me but his belief that enough of the police's resources have been used already to find the girl did bother me. This innocent little girl is no less important because her father is a bank robber. If that is HIS belief than that is heartless. It has only been 3 months! There is a gal missing here for over 2 years and they are still investigating. When does a missing persons case become an exhaust on police resources? Should who the child's parents are have any bearing on how hard police try to find her?