[DeltAlum]

Ms. Zook's ariticle begs a question to make a point. And I think that makes her wrong.

The fact is that there are also thousands of white women (and men) who are abducted and never or scarcely reported in the news.

There are several good points above -- one being the fact that the alleged kidnapper/(probable) murderer is a convicted and then released known sex offender. That immediately adds a degree of sensationalism and political intrigue to the story.

Second is the point that there might be more attention paid to other situations of this type if the police and families took the time to contact the media. I think that's absolutely true. That is partially being addressed by jurisdictions who use "Amber Alert." Those automatically bring abductions to the attention of the media -- and every one I've seen has been followed through until concluded. I can remember numerous abduction stories involving not only white but also young black and hispanic children in the Denver media over the past year. In fact, without doing a lot of research, my gut tells me there were more stories about children of color than others.

Third, this kind of "sensational" story takes on a bigger than life feel when it happens in rural America rather than a major city where crime rates are higher. This kind of thing just isn't supposed to happen there -- we think.

Add to the above, a couple of dynamics between local law enforcement and the media. In many places, cops just don't like reporters. At all. So, they don't routinely contact the media with stories -- unless it will obviously help their case or makes them look good. Also, in major cities, there is a certain degree of "business as usual" syndrome within the law enforcement community. Many missing persons are assumed to be runaways until they have been gone a substantial amount of time, or unless there is fairly clear evidence -- such as the cell phone call from Dru to her boyfriend that something is amiss.

Finally, regarding Jon Benet Ramsey, it's my opinion that her murder caused such a stir not so much because she was a young white girl, but because of the almost bizarre life circumstances and pictures of this highly "made up" child. Add to that, the prominent social position of the parents -- particularly the highly driven "stage mother" -- herself a former beauty queen. In addition, the crime happened in "The People's Republic of Boulder" -- a story in itself. Finally, the alleged bungling of the case by the Boulder Police -- and their refusal to ask for assistance from the much better equipped and knowledgeable Denver Homicide folks, and the story just jumps off the page. And again, although Bolder has a fairly close proximity to Denver, this kind of crime is very rare there.

So, for whatever it's worth, here's my read. If Ms. Zook's contention is that more (or all) abductions should be treated with the kind of celebrity that this case has -- I agree. If she feels that the coverage is simply a matter of race, I think she is missing the mark.