Missing Teenager Serena Beakhurst

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AIBU to feel sadly that the media and perhaps society as a whole are only interested in white middle class females who go missing..
compare the search for Joanna Yeats with the almost total lack of media coverage for 14 year old Serena Beakhurst

YANBU at all.

countless that is terrible - perhaps mnetters can help - I wonder if we could get a pic and circulate it on fb or something to try and raise awareness - I am in the London area so I definitely would! It must be awful for her family, particularly over this time of year. Ethnicity shouldnt be a barrier to publicity. My only thought is perhaps as she is a teen there is something we dont know?

yanbu that is sad. The fact is a child is missing, why are the police not taking it seriously.

I don't understand why the girls she was last seen with on 15TH DECEMBER have not been spoken to as yet by either the girl's own family or police????? Doesn't make any sense to me. Surely the first people you would talk to would be the girls friends. I feel for the family but believe there is more to this story.

"The accepted estimate is that there are about 100,000 runaways under the age of 16 each year in the UK. The study defines runaways as young people "who have run away from home or care; have been forced to leave home; or are otherwise away from home or care without parental permission for at least one night". As the researchers usefully underline, the term "young runaway" describes "a temporary situation of young people with a potentially much wider range of needs and issues"."

It's the sheer numbers involved that are staggering.

I agree. Whilst I have every sympathy for the family and friends of Jo Yeates I don't think it should still be the headline news today when there have been, sadly, other disappearances and murders over the Christmas period that might benefit from media coverage.

Devils advocate - we don't know what the police know... they could have strong reason to believe she is a runaway - not all that interesting to the media but still devastating to the family.

With the Jo Yeates case I think the police and the media were certain from a very early stage that it was a murder enquiry.

I do agree that the press prefer to report missing white, middle class people because it sells more papers, the public is more interested but this may be because the situations are more rare.

I imagine it is because they suspect her a runaway, where as with a 25 year old with a boyfriend and a steady job that would be very unlikely.

Still very sad as a runaway teenage girl can end up in so much danger.

I'm normally quick to dismiss claims like the OP but here I'm buggered if I can think of an alternative reason why her disappearance hasn't been widely reported.

wildmutt, I don't believe the accuation that the Police aren't taking it seriously but would suspect that they feel a need to take a softly-softly approach. The last thing they need is for their search to fall victim to the closing of ranks and gang mentality which is too often a part of the social culture of South London's youngsters.

I just hope to goodness the poor love is found safe and well very soon indeed.

YANBU at all. I have a DD who is 14 and can't imagine what her family are going through. DD ran away a few nights ago (long story) for about an hour. DH persuaded her to come back from her friend's house in a taxi. All sorted now. I hope they find Serena soon.

Wilmutt- do we know the police haven't spoken to them. It just says the family haven't.

As with all these cases there is probably more too it that we don't know about.a

That is very sad, it says a lot about the assumptions made in these cases- not only about race but also about age and class. I hope that she is safe and well.
Thankyou OP for bringing it to people's attention on here- you are right, the contrast is unbelievable in terms of media coverage.

Also do you think police in London might just be a bit more jaded to this sort of thing?

YABU. It's nothing to do with white middle-class attributes and everything to do with editors knowing the difference between a 'story' and a sad but realtively ordinary event.

Whether she's been abducted or absconded, she's still only 14. FWIW I've shoved a link onto my Twitter, hopefully it'll reach a few more people. The more people who know her face the more likely it is she'll be 'spotted' and then at least her parents might have an idea if she's alive or dead. She only lives down the road from me

SOCD, where are yo getting "serial absconder" from? (Genuine question).

The link says the police have strongly refuted claims that they consider her a runaway and have denied using the term in connection with her.

They've alerted the media, and the local MP is involved.

But the story just isn't running, is it? I'm not far from the Doddington, and this thread was the first I'd heard of it.

Poor family.

Missing white woman syndrome, whether or not applicable in this case, is what I think some of you are referring to.

Very sad that it comes down to that, but I think we all know it sometimes does.

www.missingpeople.org.uk/ great website devoted to missing people and those trying to trace them.

Are you sure that there aren't lots more middle class missing white people besides Jo Yeates?

I think it depends on the case, the Police force and the family of the missing person.