The Sad Lesson of Gabby Petito and Jelani Day

A devastating truth: thousands of people go missing every year and are never heard from again. Another devastating truth: missing person cases regarding Black and Brown people aren’t given the same attention as those of white people.

Over the last few months, people all around the world have followed the saga of Gabby Petito, a young white girl who went missing while on a cross-country road trip with her fiance. Working in the news, I learned of her disappearance before it got local recognition. I would see our national affiliates push the story, but since she wasn’t believed to be anywhere near our area and there were no ties to the local area, I didn’t include her story in my newscasts during the early stages of the investigation. Impact on the local community is a major benchmark when choosing stories.

This seemed like an extremely sad case, but not one that would warrant the coverage it received. A young girl was more than likely killed by her boyfriend. I don’t want to make it seem that I don’t have sympathy for this situation. That is not the case whatsoever. Cases of domestic violence and homicide have been on the rise since the pandemic began and should be taken seriously.

But as the case grew, I could tell local interest was surging and began including the story in my shows. However, a small voice in my head kept asking “What makes her so different?” Thousands poured out across the country to search for her and Laundrie, who at the time of writing this article, is still at large.

I have run countless stories of missing teens that we were never given an update on. Children who could be in danger, but aren’t given a second thought because their story has run through the news cycle already. 

People like Jelani Day, whose family reported him missing on August 25th. His family pleaded with authorities to take his disappearance seriously. Over a week after his reported disappearance, Jelani’s body was found floating in the Illinois River. His body was found on September 4th but wasn’t identified until two weeks later. 

For comparison, Petito was officially reported missing on September 11th and her body was found on the 19th. 

Why did it take nearly a month to identify Jelani? Because his case wasn’t publicized until authorities felt some heat. If his face had been plastered across every TV, then maybe his family would have found some peace sooner. 

We don’t know what happened that week he was missing, but when comparing facts, you can’t deny that more could have been done in Jelani’s case.

Even Gabby’s family called on the media and law enforcement to give the same kind of attention to every missing person’s case. 

Out of the nearly 90,000 people who went missing in 2020, Black people accounted for more than 30%, despite making up just 13% of the population. 

So where does this all leave us? As someone who works in the news industry, I have committed myself to shine a light when I can. I just hope others take away that same lesson. 

About Brianna Milon

Brianna is a local media professional who loves writing, watching Netflix, and playing with her dog, Weenie and her cat, Fancy. She studied Journalism and Broadcasting at SUNY Brockport and was heavily involved in the campus radio station. Brianna also co-hosts a radio show, “Fat, Black, and Femme”, on 100.9 WXIR. You can find out more on Facebook and Blogspot.

 

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