When Florida resident Gabby Petito went missing in 2021, her disappearance did not just make national news, it was the national news over the course of a couple weeks that autumn.
National television networks led their broadcasts with daily updates starting in early September and lasting until Sept. 19, when her remains were found in Wyoming. More coverage continued later, as her boyfriend became a suspect.
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Petito’s death sparked a new conversation about what some call “missing white woman syndrome,” the media phenomenon that sometimes arises especially when a pretty, young Caucasian woman disappears.
It was outlined in a New York Times article published shortly after Petito’s remains were found in 2021. The piece noted how a number of national news outlets — The Washington Post, USA Today, ABC, NBC, CBS, et al. — dedicated serious space and time to Petito’s search. It was pretty much the same on social media, the article started.
Yet, the Times reported, “the disappearances of people of color tend not to generate the same volume of media interest, despite their occurring at a higher rate.”
With that in mind, consider the case of Jemini Posey, a 21-year-old mother from the Spirit Lake Reservation in northern North Dakota. Posey has been missing since Jan. 4. NBC has reported at least once on Posey's disappearance, but we haven’t noticed much more coverage at the national level. Even if others have reported on it, Posey's case hasn't generated even a small fraction of the frenzied coverage that occurred when Petito went missing.
The Grand Forks Herald, meanwhile, published news about Posey’s disappearance on and . Another report can be found in the Herald's April 27 edition.
Some would argue more should be done still. Actually, we agree.
But while we wag a judgmental finger in the direction of national news outlets for perpetuating “missing white woman syndrome,” we also must note that finding information about missing women of color — especially Indigenous women — isn’t always easy.
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In the months following Posey’s disappearance, the Herald has made multiple unsuccessful attempts to schedule interviews with various government sources, including the Spirit Lake Tribal Council, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The newspaper also reached out to the Fort Totten Police Department for more information. That agency referred the Herald to the BIA, which suggested calling the FBI. The FBI ultimately declined to answer any questions related to the disappearance.
This contrasts with the availability of information in non-reservation jurisdictions — a local police department, for instance. Generally, those offices make much more information available to the media, thus boosting awareness of the disappearance.
“Maybe local law enforcement is just a little bit more open with information,” Gary Delorme, assistant U.S. attorney for the district of North Dakota, told the Herald. “The FBI generally has to follow the manual that we’re under, so they’re not going to talk about any specific case or investigation, absent a really good reason (that would) advance the investigations.”
Maybe so, but the proverbial walls that arise in the wake of a reservation disappearance only inhibit media coverage — coverage that could possibly help, too.
Considering the rate that reservation disappearances happen, we believe new models of communication on reservations are in order.
As of last week, 83 people were listed in the , 34 of whom are Indigenous. Although Indigenous people make up only about 5% of the state’s population, they comprise 41% of its current missing population.
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"Missing white woman syndrome” does indeed appear to exist. As some lament it — and continue to try to overcome it — help could come with new PR approaches, both within reservation law enforcement agencies as well as the federal agencies that have jurisdiction in those places.
We want the coverage to be better because we want these people found. But more expansive coverage is nearly impossible without real help at the grassroots level.
The Trust Project
