By Dennis Richmond Jr.
Steven Small, 16, went missing less than two weeks ago in New York City. There was no national media coverage for him. Jayden Bethea-Mendez, 17, went missing in Dobbs Ferry last month. I didn’t see anything about this on News12. The same month, Toni Boyce, 16, went missing in Pleasantville. Kayla Stewart, 15, and Nashyilah Jackson-Irby, 14, both went missing in Pleasantville within the past year too.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 77 Black, and Hispanic young adults are missing in New York. Those missing in Yonkers, Nayelis Perez Santiago, Yoxy Zuniga Romero, and Melvin Garay Murillo, are Hispanic. Unfortunately, most Black and Hispanic teenagers that go missing never get national media coverage. A Google search for the name “Gabby” instantly pulls up articles about Gabby Petito. Gabby, 22, is a recently slain white woman. Gabby received national media coverage, but Steven, Jayden, Yoxy, and Nayelis didn’t.
“Tens of thousands of Black girls and women go missing every year. Last year, that figure was nearly 100,000. Yet their cases hardly ever grab national headlines,” says NPR. “A journalist in California is doing what she can to try to change that, by telling as many of their stories as she can — and hopefully helping them get the justice they deserve. Our Black Girls centers on the often untold stories of Black girls and women who have gone missing or, in some cases, were found dead under mysterious circumstances.” The website was created three years ago by Erika Marie Rivers.
Why are Black and Hispanic teenagers specifically targeted? Dr. Umar Johnson and the late Dick Gregory talked about organ harvesting. People are stealing organs from Black and Hispanic people. Illegal activity, such as payment for this process, takes place on the dark web. Some of the cases of these missing teenagers may have a connection to the dark web.
Other than organ harvesting, teenagers are missing due to sex trafficking. A man was arrested for sex trafficking in Detroit as recently as October 14th. A man in Milwaukee, 45, was arrested too. According to FOX6 Milwaukee, some of his charges include “interstate transportation for prostitution” and “interstate transportation of a minor for criminal sexual activity.” Dozens of Black and Hispanic teens are going missing, and there’s no outcry. Where is the national media attention?
I don’t know if any of the missing teenagers in New York are victims of organ harvesting or sex trafficking. The hope is that the families and friends of all these victims find their loved ones. That could only happen when more people start talking.
Visit https://www.missingkids.org/home, to learn more about the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Dennis Richmond, Jr., is an author and journalist focused on the Black, Latinx, and LGBTQIA+ Community. He has covered HBCUs periodically for six years at Yonkers Rising. Richmond lives in Yonkers. Follow him on Twitter @NewYorkStakz.
