Find missing D.C. children
THE CONGRESSIONAL Black Caucus is asking federal law enforcement to join the search for black girls missing in the nation’s capital amid an “apparent uptick” in disappearances.
The lawmakers sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the FBI this week asking for federal resources to help determine whether new cases represent an “anomaly” or “underlying trend.”
“Ten children of color went missing in our nation’s capital in a period of two weeks,” read the letter signed by Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the district.
“That’s deeply disturbing and has drawn attention to a nationwide problem: When children of color go missing, authorities often assume they are runaways, rather than victims of abduction,” according to the letter obtained by the Daily News.
“Everyone has been alarmed with the number of youth going missing in D.C.,” Derrica Wilson, co-founder of the Black and Missing Foundation, told The News on Friday. “Even if they’re classified as a runaway, we need to understand what are they running from and who are they running to.”
One case highlighted by the #MissingDCgirls hashtag involves 14-year-old Shaniah Boyd, last seen March 18. Yahshaiyah Enoch, 13, was last seen on March 8.
A bright spot came Wednesday when Winter Griffin, 10, was found safe a day after she went missing, cops confirmed without releasing details.
A police spokeswoman agreed any case is one too many but said the rate of local teens going missing hasn’t spiked.
“The concern is, ‘Is someone taking these ladies? Are they being trafficked?’ But in none of the open cases here do we have any indication they were kidnapped, abducted or trafficked,” Metropolitan Police spokeswoman Margarita Mikhaylova told The News.
The department’s more aggressive use of social media is simply highlighting an ongoing problem, she said, and 98% of the people reported missing this year have been found.