The Columbus Dispatch

‘Any human should be found’

Columbus police receive 15 to 50 missing person reports a day, and the cases are a reminder that many have vanished

- THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH See EDITORIAL, Page 4F

PCooper. eople shouldn’t just vanish. vanishing.

But they seemingly do – all the time here and in other communitie­s around the nation.

Disappeara­nces might – but often do not – garner attention in local media. The vast majority of them are never reported on or in national TV new shows, newspapers and magazines.

This is particular­ly true if the missing person is not a young, attractive white woman or girl and is instead Black, Latino, Asian,

Indigenous, LGBTQ, young or senior, men or boys.

That sad pattern has thus far been the case for 33-year-old Sacoya

Columbus police just announced they suspect foul play in her

The Columbus resident is believed to have been last seen in a 2009 black Ford Fusion around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 31, a few days after Gabby

Petito was last known to be in Grand Teton, Wyoming, headed toward

Yellowston­e National Park.

One national news network called Petito “America’s daughter,” but she is far from the only American deserving of this nation’s care.

More than 700 Indigenous people, the bulk women and girls, vanished from 2011 to 2020 in Wyoming, the state where Petito’s body was found, according to Wyoming’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous

Persons Task Force.

There have been no national searches for Cooper as there were for

Petito. No manhunt for suspects.

Stolen plates were attached to the transgende­r woman’s car when it was found in October on the West Side, police said Monday.

Cooper is still missing, as is Scott Federer, who walked out of Mount

Carmel East hospital Jan. 12 despite the urging of doctors and got on a

Number 10 bus.

Like Cooper, he seemingly went poof, but we know that does not just happen.

 ?? ??
 ?? ?? Sacoya Cooper
Sacoya Cooper
 ?? ?? Scott Federer
Scott Federer
 ?? JEFF KOTERBA ??
JEFF KOTERBA

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