13-03-2003 05:22									#31
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quote: Originally posted by Agathon Given the amount of children that go missing and the fact that the vast majority of them come from poor backgrounds it seems odd to me that it is suddenly news when a rich white girl goes missing. In any case I don't think it's a national story, although it is an important regional one.

Two things (besides being rich and white) set Elizabeth Smart's case off from the rest - she was kidnapped from her bedroom at home with very little hard evidence and no suspects, as opposed to kids snatched on the street, on the way from school, in their yards, or by non-custodial parents, etc.

Her kidnapping also came along as part of a streak of more or less similar kidnappings.

As for the national newsworthiness of it, there was significant national coverage last year of a young black girl in Philly who escaped from a basement where she'd been kept by her kidnappers.

	13-03-2003 05:22									#32
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quote: Originally posted by Sprayber Are you two trying to say that if the child was black and the same set of circumstances were present, the media would not report this? Some of you people are simply amazing. The point is that a child is back home. Ethicity or sex doesnt mean a damn thing. But apparently some try to find the absolute worse in each and every situation. It must be really depressing to be one of you.

It's good being me. I see the media for what it is, a sensationalist set of organizations whose first order is to sell commercial time. It must suck being a victim of sensationalism.

And instead of expressing some sort of relief or positive opinion about this girl coming home, you have to attack other posters' on their views of the media.

	13-03-2003 05:25									#33
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Getting snatched from the bedroom of a house , that opens up a whole new can of worms.

	13-03-2003 05:26									#34
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quote: Originally posted by Lancer They're white, but whose fault is that? I don't think they're rich. The reward was $10,000?

She's rich... take a look at that house!

My theory is that she got under the spell of some doofus homeless "prophet" boyfriend and skipped out. Apparently she was wearing a wig when caught and didn't seem under duress.

	13-03-2003 05:27									#35
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quote: Originally posted by Sava It's good being me. I see the media for what it is, a sensationalist set of organizations whose first order is to sell commercial time. It must suck being a victim of sensationalism. And instead of expressing some sort of relief or positive opinion about this girl coming home, you have to attack other posters' on their views of the media.

Please spare me your disappointment. Your not one to talk about sticking to some kind of topic. Your rantings about all things negative border on the absurd. So the next time you pipe in about how evil the goverment is or how evil bush is (and the topic has nothing to do with either) remember this post you made.

	13-03-2003 05:30									#36
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I'm not necessarily condoning immediately moving the subject onto The Media And Missing Children, The Disseration, but since the subject has been broached this is an article on the subject I found quite interesting at the time. It's written from a british perspective- Amanda Dowler was a high-profile missing girl when the article was published.

http://www.observer.co.uk/magazine/...,860063,00.html

	13-03-2003 05:30									#37
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I read that she was abducted at gun point. I pictured a home invasion. That's what was shocking to me, but actually I just heard about it.

	13-03-2003 05:33									#38
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They ALL had wigs on and it was a friend of the family, I believe.

	13-03-2003 05:38									#39
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quote: Originally posted by SlowwHand They ALL had wigs on and it was a friend of the family, I believe.

It was a handyman who worked at their house one day, 9 months before she was abducted.

ACK!

	13-03-2003 05:42									#40
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Fatal attraction.

Was said here, regional, not national.
Seems national in looking around.

	13-03-2003 06:03									#41
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quote: Originally posted by SlowwHand Fatal attraction. Was said here, regional, not national. Seems national in looking around.

But sloww, the media is evil and scary don't believe them.

	13-03-2003 06:04									#42
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quote: Originally posted by Agathon Rich white girl found alive. Why is this news?

she was kidnapped! she was feared dead!

poor taste
.01/10

	13-03-2003 06:36									#43
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quote: Originally posted by Lancer Really pretty young teen from...Cali?

UTAH!!!!!!!!!!!

	13-03-2003 06:50									#44
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whatever ... shes pretty

(and safe)

	13-03-2003 06:53									#45
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Excellent news. I always tend to assume that, in situations like this, the kidnapee is dead meat. Nice to see expectations not met this time.

	13-03-2003 07:12									#46
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Astonishing and good news.

I'll admit there's racism, classism, sexism, and prolly some other -isms present in the media, but that doesn't make good news anything to be cynical about. We should be happy for her safety, and more careful to see that it doesn't happen again.

	13-03-2003 07:18									#47
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Man this is a shocker. We had all given her up for dead and were convinced by the police focus on Ricci that he did it.

In the Lace P. case, all the focus is on Scott, her husband. It looks like the police get it wrong at times.

The story said Liz's sister thought Emmanual looked like the person who entered her room. This was in the last month or so. The Smart's then held a news conference to call for the public to look for Emmanual. Well they found him.

Little sister is the person who cracked this case.

	13-03-2003 07:41									#48
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According to the AP:

The overwhelming majority of children abducted by strangers eventually return home safely, experts say, though very few are held as long as the nine-month ordeal of Elizabeth Smart.

About 4,600 children are abducted each year by strangers, according to Ann Scofield of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. But she said most are held only briefly before being freed.

Only 100 or so abductions by strangers each year fit into more serious categories -- cases in which the child is held for an extended period of time or is killed, she said.

Whenever anything like this happens, I often assume the worst (I tend to review a lot of crime sites), but evidently the worst occurs (thankfully) rarely.

In any case, thank goodness (and God, if You're up there) that she was found safe. This is really great news. Maybe we'll get lucky with some of the other people who are still missing...

	13-03-2003 11:09									#49
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quote: Originally posted by Felch X Astonishing and good news. I'll admit there's racism, classism, sexism, and prolly some other -isms present in the media, but that doesn't make good news anything to be cynical about. We should be happy for her safety, and more careful to see that it doesn't happen again.

my thoughts exactly

	13-03-2003 11:10									#50
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Awesome.

	13-03-2003 12:32									#51
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Unbelievable.

I feel kind of guilty because I had hoped she was dead . I guess I'm too much of a pessimist. I had no hope she would be found. And if she was found I thought she would be dead. I figured death was better than a lifetime of getting raped. But I guess 8 months of getting raped is better than dying- I think.

Anyways this is good news. Not often you get good news form the news.

	13-03-2003 13:13									#52
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Heh... same last name as me

I remember hearing this when it was discovered a while back. Good job

	13-03-2003 13:36									#53
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In any case did you guys see the police taking credit for it? All gloating for the tv cameras.

I think they did a terrible job.

It was the media spreading her image everywhere and some observant citizens that helped get her back home. Good work.

	13-03-2003 23:05									#54
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quote: Originally posted by Agathon Rich white girl found alive. Why is this news?

Chalk up a new entry on the "Big list of arseholes".

	13-03-2003 23:11									#55
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actually I was the person who suggested last year she got so much news attention because she was white. I still think that may be true.

But others at Apolyton suggested she got so much attention because she is rich or at least upper middle class. And many in the news business are upper middle class, hence all the coverage.

The latter is probably more true.

In my city a Mexican girl got a lot of coverage when she was kidnapped. Aside from America's most Wanted, she has had no national coverage.

	14-03-2003 01:18									#56
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quote: Rich white girl found alive. Why is this news?

Agathon:

We feared her dead, now we know she is alive.

This will be news regardless of race.

Aren't you glad to hear that she's alive?

	14-03-2003 03:13									#57
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Dissident. Jealous over title of arsehole.

	14-03-2003 04:32									#59
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Another thing I thought was great.
Mr. Smart endorsing the Amber Alert, citing that while he had his daughter back, many parents do not.

http://www.missingkids.com/html/amberplan.html
"The AMBER Plan was created in 1996 as a powerful legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, a bright little girl who was kidnapped and brutally murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas.
The tragedy shocked and outraged the entire community. Residents contacted radio stations in the Dallas area and suggested they broadcast special “alerts” over the airwaves so that they could help prevent such incidents in the future.

In response to the community’s concern for the safety of local children, the Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Radio Managers teamed up with local law-enforcement agencies in northern Texas and developed this innovative early warning system to help find abducted children. Statistics show that, when abducted, a child’s greatest enemy is time."

	14-03-2003 13:06									#60
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yes I demand the title of a$$hole

Just to prove it I'm goint to say something non-Politically Correct.

Something about this story bothers me. I guess part of the problem is she is religious and naive. That is the only explanation how she could be brain washed so easily and did not run and did not give the police her name.

But I admit I'm cynical. I've heard stories of mormon fathers giving their daughters away to polygimists. I'm not saying this has happened here. But there is that possiblity. But that is highly unlikely. Polygamy is not that popular in the big cities as they are in the small towns.

There is the other possiblilty that the girl just ran away with the guy. But that is also highly unlikely. Because she only met the guy once 6 months prior. It's not like he had time to convince her to go with him.

But I have been called an ******* and uncaring for suggesting such things.

In any case I doubt that happend. I truelly believe she was kidnapped. But what happened after that is a mystery so far.

I guess it shows how easy it is to brainwash religious people.