Research on missing and unidentified persons. Sources are referenced in posts.
I am trying to bring cases to light and focus on gaps in research.
All corrections welcome in questions, comments, and submissions.
NCMEC was forced to remove mention of sexuality and gender identity for reports on missing kids
There is a tremendous amount of danger in removing identifiable information from listings of missing children.
Facing potential defunding, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was forced to remove any mention of LGBTQ+ ideology, which included mention that a child or adult is trans. It remains to be seen if individual listings will be altered, or if future listings will be incomplete, to align with current expectations of NCMEC data sharing.
The withdrawal of information was required of all public-facing documents. When the Trump administration announced that federally funded (but private) agencies were to cease all programming and information sharing of DEI- and gender ideology-related content, NCMEC made the decision to remove some of the reports from its website, despite asserting that their ability to identify and locate missing children was unchanged.
The Department of Justice, the primary funder of NCMEC, was one of the first agencies to share guidance on the executive order.
The recent block from a judge should give NCMEC the ability to replace its content relating to trans kids, but the documents appear to remain offline. These reports discussed missing children with suicidal tendencies and data about child trafficking, amongst others.
Please, speak out against this injustice against youth.
Newtown, Connecticut is a small town that has had the misfortune to be in the national headlines more than once. Regina Brown’s disappearance was overshadowed heavily by the “Woodchipper Murder” - where Helle Crafts was killed by her husband who tried to dispose of her body by freezing it and sending it through a woodchipper.
Although white-passing Creole, Regina is of Black ancestry. A combination of other sensational news and being a minority likely contributed to her case not being covered as heavily as it otherwise would have been.
Regina Fontano met Willis Brown, Jr. through work at American Airlines, where she was a flight attendant and he was a pilot. They were married in June of 1982. Within a year, Willis was demanding a divorce. Regina was described as a person with deep religious convictions, and the divorce was troubling for her.
Regina, with a newborn, was trying to make things work. During these problematic times, she became pregnant again. Willis maintained residences outside of Newtown, including in Queens, throughout the subsequent years. This time included domestic abuse, threats of death, and a third child. By 1986, Regina had realized how bad things were and continued divorce proceedings. They were estranged by 1987.
In March of 1987, Willis was making visits to the house in Newtown. He did not have reason to be at the house, which was in Regina’s exclusive custody. Regina knew time was running out on his patience, and sent her two older children to live with her parents in Texas.
On March 26, 1987, she drove to LaGuardia Airport in Queens to put her live-in babysitter and her third child on a plane to Texas. She left most of her personal belongings at home, including an uncashed $1,000 check, pointing to her intent to return home.
Willis also traveled on March 26, back to Newtown from his Queens home. He attended a dentist appointment, and later told police that he went directly back to the apartment in Queens.
Leaving the airport, Regina called her closest friend. She said she would be heading to Texas herself within the week. If no one was able to reach her, she cryptically warned her friend that Willis would be responsible.
Her parents and the children’s babysitter were growing concerned when they could not reach her at home in Newtown. On April 2, they called a neighbor. The neighbor, unable to locate Regina, called the police. It is not clear what the police did in response to this call.
Regina was scheduled to work a flight on March 30, 1987, which she did not show up for. When she missed another scheduled flight on the morning of April 3, American Airlines called Willis Brown. He was still living in Queens at the time, but he called Newtown police to file the missing person report.
Police began a search. After learning about the impending divorce proceedings and seeing the legal history between Regina and Willis, they asked Willis to participate in a polygraph interview. He told police he would only do so after the divorce was finalized. He never followed through on the interview.
Regina’s car was found in New York City on April 6. It had been left with the keys in the ignition, collecting traffic tickets under the windshield. Connecticut police gained custody of the vehicle, but found no evidence.
In 1995, Regina was declared dead in absentia.
As recently as 2016, Newtown police have been investigating new leads, including searching the area off Mt. Pleasant Road where her home was. The area was also searched in 1987. Other areas have been searched as leads have surfaced, but Regina has not been found. Her family is still seeking answers more than 37 years later.
Anyone with information should contact the Newtown, Connecticut Police Department (203) 426-5841
Sources:
A Texas woman, who is interested in having the mysterious 1987 disappearance of former Newtown resident Regina Brown solved, has created a F
Town police are revisiting the Regina Brown missing person case, seeking new clues in trying to learn what happened to the 35-year-old Ameri
One of the gaps in grief work is understanding how to process ambiguous loss. Ambiguous loss exists on a spectrum, and it comes from the loss of someone either physically or mentally, but not to death. It may be losing a loved one to imprisonment or deployment, losing custody of a child, or having a loved one go missing. Traditional mourning rituals such as funerals, cemeteries, and church services allow for public mourning, but none of those are available to someone who is mourning an ambiguous loss.
There is a social stigma attached to ambiguous loss, and the loss can be measured on a scale of the following six factors:
the loss is minimized or ignored;
one’s feelings about the loss are either repressed by oneself or criticized by others;
there is little to no support for the grief;
a lack of opportunity to mourn;
others react poorly to what mourning does happen; and
there is a stigma attached to the loss or the grief.
Family members and loved ones of those who are missing may fit into any or multiple of those categories.
In order to best support those dealing with ambiguous loss, connecting them to people who are supporting and understanding is key. When that comes to a missing person, it may involve rituals around the place where the person was last seen or places where they lived or frequented. There are also days and anniversaries that come where the person may feel helplessness, a push to look for the person, or a drive to talk about them. Keeping a loved one's memory alive on social media or in the public eye may help those suffering with ambiguous loss. In other cases, it may bring people additional stress and make it difficult to move forward. Only the individual or family can make that distinction for themselves.
There will be some level of continual mourning until there is closure; for some, the closure may never come, in the case of a person being missing, a lifetime incarceration, or the loss of custody of a child. The suggestion of some slim chance, such as the person being recovered or a chance at parole many years in the future, may be enough to help someone hold on. It can also block the healing process for many who hold onto some small hope. Paralysis in life can be damaging if the loved one is unable to work or socialize due to the ambiguous loss.
Healing can come when individuals hold dual concepts of their loved one being present in some aspects and gone in others. With missing persons, that can be holding onto hope that the person will be recovered—even found alive—but also accepting that the person is not present and life must move on around the loss. It can help to create a new sense of identity around the self and loved one.
Many people choose to find meaning in this ambiguous loss, and that is a key to healing for those people. Advocates in many spaces are utilizing their grief as power and motivation. Ultimately, social workers and providers need to normalize this kind of loss to better help those suffering.
Grief counseling certificates and programs are not universal. Anyone building one of these programs should include coursework or sections on ambiguous loss/grief and the unique struggles that come along with not having answers or presence. Grief counselors should also advertise their services to those suffering from an ambiguous loss; many sufferers may not realize there are similarities or like-minds.
Sources:
Knight, C., & Gitterman, A. (2019). Ambiguous loss and its disenfranchisement: The need for social work intervention. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 100(2), 164-173.
Missing from Bridgeport, Connecticut, on June 5, 1981. She is Black with black hair and brown eyes.
She was 1 year old, about 30 pounds at 2’1”. She was last seen wearing a blue and white jumpsuit. Her ears were pierced.
On Friday, June 5, 1981, 21-month-old Jovonna Crawford was being babysat by her mom’s boyfriend, Ronald Garrett. He was supposed to drop her off with her maternal grandmother, Mary Moales, after a short while. Mary Corbin, Jovonna’s mother, came home to find Garrett alone. He claimed that a 10-year-old boy, wearing his hair braided, said he was sent by Moales to bring Jovonna over. Garrett said he thought he recognized him as a neighborhood kid, and let him take her. Moales never sent anyone to the apartment to pick up Jovonna, and this boy has never been identified.
Later, Garrett served 10 months in prison for risk to a minor. He claims that he had nothing to do with Jovonna’s disappearance. Corbin believes to this day that Garrett had something to do with the disappearance of her daughter, as she claims he has never shown remorse or concern for Jovonna. She believes Jovonna is living her life somewhere without knowledge of her own abduction and who her biological family is.
Police believe Garrett knows more than he has shared, but has since moved to Georgia and is not in contact with any investigators. The case is sitting at a standstill.
This case is an example of a situation where familial matches of consumer DNA testing may help solve this case. If Jovonna is alive, she would be turning 43 in 2022. If she did a DNA test and matched with relatives, this case may be solved.
Who is the “ideal victim” in missing persons cases?
We as the public are left with the knowledge of only what we can gain from other sources. Frequently, that source is the media - and with missing persons, it all comes from third-party sources, since the person inherently isn’t there to speak for themselves.
Media tends to only show us what gets views - in crime news, that is usually a victim that has a claim to legitimacy. These victims are known as “ideal victims.”
The concept of an “ideal victim” in criminology was first named by Nils Christie, a Norwegian criminologist and sociologist, in 1986. He posited that in order to be an ideal victim, the person must be:
Vulnerable (young, old, weak)
Doing something respectable or charitable
Knowingly assaulted by a stranger
Blameless in their victimhood
The assailant overpowers the victim and is seen as “bad”
In order to have this ideal victim, the ideal offender must also fit all categories of big and scary. This is seen in many instances in the media, a few years ago it was Jennifer Dulos, and more recently Gabby Petito.
“Missing White Woman Syndrome” has gained traction inside and outside of academic circles in the past decade. White women are often seen as blameless and weak, and if their assailant is known or can be painted in a dangerous light, they fit many criteria for the ideal victim narrative. One key aspect here is part of the story - they have to be blameless.
Who is blameless? People with positive qualities. Parents - but usually only when married. Children - but only if they have no history of bullying or fighting. Women in their 20s - but only if they don’t have a history of substance use or sex work.
Who is easily blamed for their victimhood? People doing anything related to substance use, sex work, or crime. People who don’t have social ties and are seen as loners. Those who are homeless. Notice, these are the people who frequently go without being reported missing. When they are reported missing, it doesn’t become a huge story. It might only be a big deal if someone is caught for the crime, or it starts to fade over into the lives of people who are seen as more socially conventional - which might be a family member fighting for justice for their loved one.
It’s important to understand and identify ideal victimhood as it relates to missing persons, because we so commonly only see cases that are publicized in the media. These cases are far from the only ones out there, and people go missing every day who are not reported missing because they don’t have people to report them. It doesn’t make them any less important of a person to be looking for.
If this is an area you are interested in helping out, look through missing persons files yourself to see if there is anywhere you can help out. Cases are listed on NamUs.gov for each state, with publicly available information that you can view. Police turn to the public for help solving missing persons cases, but it’s up to the public to decide to help.
Christie, N. (1986). The Ideal Victim. In: Fattah E.A. (eds) From Crime Policy to Victim Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08305-3_2
Jeanis, M. N., & Powers, R. A. (2017). Newsworthiness of missing persons cases: An analysis of selection bias, disparities in coverage, and the narrative framework of news reports. Deviant Behavior, 38(6) 668-683. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2016.11967618
Slakoff, D. C. & Fradella, H. F. (2019). Media messages surrounding missing women and girls: The “missing white woman syndrome” and other factors that influence newsworthiness. Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society, 20(3), 80-102. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337679765_Criminology_Criminal_Justice_Law_Society_Media_Messages_Surrounding_Missing_Women_and_Girls_The_Missing_White_Woman_Syndrome_and_Other_Factors_that_Influence_Newsworthiness
My name is Sarah. I am finishing my thesis for my M.S. in criminal justice. My research interests land squarely in the field of missing persons and their missing data. This blog is intended to follow my research as it connects dots between the gaps of research in missing and unidentified persons. I do not claim to be an expert, but I am working to bridge some of those gaps with my research. Feedback is welcome.
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