Latoyia Figueroa is Missing - Have you seen her?

July 28, 2005 12:20 PM

Help find Latoyia: A not-so-quiet movement is going on within the Philadelphia blog community - the movement to find 24 year old African American Latoyia Figueroa. Those involved have managed to get a front-page CNN article for the young woman. Those involved seem driven by the recent news coverage of Natalee Holloway. From Richard Cranium's post: Consider this as a social experiment. If Natalee Holloway rates a $1 Million reward, certainly, a missing mother (and mother-to-be) rates enough reward money to shake a few street rats out of the woodwork, and we should put our money where our mouth is.
posted by tozturk (28 comments total)

If only she was white.

Anyway, my theory: Scott Peterson redux.
posted by delmoi at 12:23 PM on July 28, 2005

Is it really news that the media and public pay about a thousand times more attention to when pretty white teenaged girls get abducted than non-white non-teen women? I'm not saying its not tragic that she's missing and may be the victim of foul play but its hard to really get too surprised by this.

And no, it doesn't make it right in any way.
posted by fenriq at 12:40 PM on July 28, 2005

For those of us who have not given a crap about the missing-attractive-white-femal-du-jour stories, does this mean we then should equally not give a crap about this story?
posted by Pollomacho at 12:43 PM on July 28, 2005

sure, pollomacho. We're all very impressed by how unimpressed you are.
posted by jonmc at 12:45 PM on July 28, 2005

Of course Nataleee Holloway doesn't rate a million dollar reward, so that little proposition falls apart.
posted by smackfu at 12:47 PM on July 28, 2005

sure, pollomacho. We're all very impressed by how unimpressed you are.

Yeah, jonmc, that's what I meant. You caught me. I'm such a hipster.
posted by Pollomacho at 12:51 PM on July 28, 2005

Conclusion: Homicide is a leading cause of pregnancy-associated injury deaths.
posted by docgonzo at 12:54 PM on July 28, 2005

Well personally I find it hard to continually be on-board with these regional crime "shake downs" when they are accompanied by such obvious riders as

to shake a few street rats out of the woodwork, and we should put our money where our mouth is

Really "shake down" is apt. It's not about the victim, nor about the crime. It's just a usage.
posted by nervousfritz at 12:56 PM on July 28, 2005

don't drag the hipster red herring in the room. You said you didn't give a crap about either woman's disappearnce. Yet you give enough of a crap to tell us that you don't give a crap. I'm just trying to sort it out.

Me, I'm sad for both families involved and hope that ultimately the both find some peace, despite the media overkill on one story and the conspicious lack of attention paid to the other.
posted by jonmc at 12:59 PM on July 28, 2005

This story is new to me--just heard about it on CNN's afternoon news. the reward is up to $10,000 USD.
posted by beelzbubba at 1:04 PM on July 28, 2005

I never said I didn't care about their disappearance, so don't get out your pig pointy finger just yet! I'm saying that these stories that get crammed down our throats by the media: Holloway, Runaway-bride, Petersen, etc. are all filler for the 24-hour networks to hype up for ratings. I don't give a crap about these overhyped stories, the missing-attractive-white-female-du-jour stories. This group is calling for equal time. They want an equal share of the idiocy.

I am certainly saddened by these women's disappearance, and I hope all their families reach a closure, but does that mean I have to be driven to orgasmic frenzy in the media shitstorm?
posted by Pollomacho at 1:05 PM on July 28, 2005

Jonmc: it's easy to be annoyed at the constant coverage of various missing white chicks when far worse and important events transpire. Complaining about Natalee Holloway's coverage is a humorous statement based on the argument that not only is it unimportant, the constant coverage is a symptom of a disease eating away at our media, and through that, our nation.

The coverage this girl has gotten on the internet is mostly only to point out that she hasn't been covered much so far, although while she is not white, she is good looking. Latoyia may end up being the Jacky Robinson of missing, attractive women.
posted by delmoi at 1:05 PM on July 28, 2005

That would be a big pointy finger, not a pig pointy finger, no extra commentary meant there, just a typo.
posted by Pollomacho at 1:06 PM on July 28, 2005

I understand your points, and for the most part agree with them, but when we start up with the sarcastic "white woman in trouble" stuff, we wind up sounding callous and dismissive which I'm not too thrilled about either.
posted by jonmc at 1:09 PM on July 28, 2005

Interesting coverage mixup. Missing non-white woman. Let's see how long before the media feel that it's been entraped or gets tired of the story.

Otherwise, send in the cadaver searching dogs/jets/whatever.

I hope, just like for any missing person case, that they find her alive and well.
posted by NewBornHippy at 1:12 PM on July 28, 2005

Just wanted to note that the media coverage within Philadelphia has been restrained and tasteful, to the end of trying to help find her — even Fox 29 isn't stooping to its usual gratuitous shock coverage technique.

Both the media and the people here seem as concerned and respectful about this as they were about the Faheem Thomas-Childs school shooting death from last year.
posted by Rothko at 1:29 PM on July 28, 2005

The Holloway vs. Figueroa difference isn't all due to race. Holloway disappeared in Aruba, a popular and exotic overseas tourist destination traditionally considered very safe. She was only 18 years old. She was on a senior class trip. All of these factors play well to the fears of American parents and offer avenues for colorful reporting.

So, sure, the fact that it involved a pretty white girl accounts for a lot of the story's prominence; but it probably doesn't account for all of it. There are 50,000 missing people in the U.S. Most of them don't get intense media coverage, including thousands of white women. An interesting question is whether the Holloway story would have made a splash if Holloway had been black. My guess is that it still would have been news, although probably much less widespread.
posted by brain_drain at 1:55 PM on July 28, 2005

fenriq posted:

Is it really news that the media and public pay about a thousand times more attention to when pretty white teenaged girls get abducted than non-white non-teen women? I'm not saying its not tragic that she's missing and may be the victim of foul play but its hard to really get too surprised by this.

I never cease to be surprised by the "why should we be surprised" replies that seem to accompany most every post these days. I just tear into the comments just to have the vicarious thrill of how someone is unsurprised, how such and such was expected and how it is no big thang, with appropriate disclaimers that the thing in question, unsurprising as it may be, is still not right. So it's wrong, but we must yawn with world-weary MeFi ennui regardless.

Please keep them coming.

/unsurprising sarcasm
posted by Reverend Mykeru at 2:00 PM on July 28, 2005

Thanks, brain_drain, for some rare sanity. Factors besides race also explain the news focus on Chandra Levy (it was known from just about the outset that she had some kind of relationship with a congressman.) I'm not sure about Laci, though; the only thing I can think of was that she disappeared on Christmas Eve, the beginning of a slow news season.

The "missing pretty white women" meme is almost bigger than the missing pretty white women meme.
posted by transona5 at 2:14 PM on July 28, 2005

Yes, thanks for some perspective, brain drain.

I'd be a lot more sympathetic if it didn't seem like finding the missing woman was secondary to making a point about "SHE IS NOT A WHITE WOMAN!"
posted by mrgrimm at 3:02 PM on July 28, 2005

Reverend, I'm glad that I can feed your sarcastic meta-non-surprise. Its not ennui at all. Its understanding the media in this country goes after the sensationalistic stories, like missing teens in Aruba or the Runaway Bride farce. I never cease to be surprised by members trying to demonstrate how unceasingly unsurprised they are that people get tired of media bias. But hey, I'm glad your monkey got fed.

transona5, Laci Petersen disappeared on Christmas Eve when she was very, very pregnant. The combination of those two and then the revelations about what a complete and utter asshat her husband was (selling her car, partying when he should have been searching for her, his cell calls with Amber Frey, dyeing his hair in San Diego with his brother's passport and $10K in cash, etc.) and is fueled all the interest in her case.
posted by fenriq at 3:33 PM on July 28, 2005

I'm not convinced that the media are all that useful in most missing adult cases. We'd have fewer long-term missing persons if the police could afford to investigate all missing persons reports thoroughly (and if some authorities took missing persons reports more seriously - some don't even bother taking formal reports, especially on young men and women).

It's not as if there are two or three ignored missing persons for every Chandra Levy; it's more like two or three thousand, and that's not including the missing persons who show up a week or two later. Even the most proactive police services find it difficult to allocate enough funds to their missing persons departments when every area of law enforcement is crying out for more funding.

It would also help if families actually kept detailed current information about all their loved ones, adults and children, young and old, in writing and updated it every year. This should include recently measured height, weight, locations of scars and broken bones, and the family member's dentist's name. Many deceased or hospitalized people have failed to be identified for months/years because their families guessed their height and weight, and were so wrong (four inches and 30 lb. out is not unusual at all) that the police eliminated the correct person. Drivers' licence information is often just as inaccurate.
posted by watsondog at 3:45 PM on July 28, 2005

Really "shake down" is apt. It's not about the victim, nor about the crime. It's just a usage.

Exactly. When I read "consider this as a social experiment," I wanted to puke.
posted by letitrain at 3:59 PM on July 28, 2005

I didn't bother to track down an exact statistic but a number of different sources suggest that there are in the vicinity of 100,000 active missing person cases being investigated in the USA. One imagines these figures represent all shapes and sizes. The absurdity, societal irresponsibility, and overall failure of compassion in how the news media operates goes far beyond race.
posted by nanojath at 7:35 PM on July 28, 2005

A little Shallowfilter here, but she is way more attractive than that Holloway broad.
posted by nightchrome at 7:39 PM on July 28, 2005

nanojath, shapes, sizes and ages. The average missing person is a young-to-middle-aged man with a medical problem.
posted by watsondog at 11:17 PM on July 28, 2005

Not to be too cynical, but this got little local coverage when she first went missing. We had a few days of brutal heat, and on the first day after the heat wave broke and the media coverage started to bubble up, the massve search took place in Cobbs Creek Park. Maybr thr Philadelphia PD were waiting for a nice day? Today this is a front page story in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the blogger angle is featured. The story was picked up by Nancy Grace (whose head has not exploed yet) and CNN.
posted by fixedgear at 4:26 AM on July 29, 2005

Yeah, this seems kinda wrong. Replacing one media circus with another is not the answer. the focus should not be on 1 pretty girl of any race or the attempt to 'shake" rewards out of the populace. That's no answer to the larger problem here. We rarely make the jump as a society today from one anecdotal story to public policy change, if we ever really did.
posted by es_de_bah at 4:54 AM on July 29, 2005