Increase in young black men going missing with bodies being found, not suspicious.

[debbrianna]

This has come up on my radar as something that has increased in the last one year. Should we be worried that it might be sinister. A lot of them being found either in water or near water with cause of death as drowning. If this is true, then it needs to be look at. If patterns are forming, then we need to be more aware sooner than later.

For various reasons, I was closely interested in what happened to Richard Okorogheye. His cause of death is still to be determined (awaiting toxicology)

But I wasn't aware there had been an increase in numbers of deaths with bodies found in water - I've seen no reporting in these terms.

If an increase has been correctly identified, is there any discussion of cause? Is it linked to an increase in suicide generally?

Are you able to post links to other cases

A friend of mine, who was an inpatient, drowned. This was around a decade ago. He had 'escaped' from the ward, and there was a man-hunt for weeks, prior to the discovery. It was horrifying.

Even though he suffered from depression, he would always say that he wasn't suicidal.

It still feels strange, all these years later, especially as there are still no answers.

Are you thinking of this case? www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-56991184

The implication was pretty clear from when the first reports went out about him being missing that he was a suicide risk. I live in Bristol and yesterday talked to lots of his friends and team mates who were out searching local woodlands for him. There was a suicide prevention outreach vehicle parked nearby.

A young woman was found dead in the same woods very recently; no inquest yet but the reports of 'no suspicious circumstances' mean it was probably a clear suicide .

It's a very sad case, but student suicides (all races) are unfortunately not uncommon.

This is very scary. My sister was telling me about it over a year ago. Someone needs to have a look at the cases and see what's going on.

I could never understand why the Manchester Canal Deaths were never taken more seriously. If you go onto YouTube and do a search for Canam Missing Project, that's a real eye opener. Canam stands for Canadian, American, but there are missing people all over the world, some under very mysterious circumstances. You should also research the Highway of Tears, that's about missing Native American women. The film Wind River is not an easy watch, but deals with missing indigenous women. Apart from the young lad Richard Okorogheye, I felt Noah Donahoe in Belfast was another strange case, along with the young girl who went missing in Malaysia, her first name was Nora, unfortunately cannot remember her surname. I agree though, something isn't right.

A high proportion of people from Black african caribbean and asian heritage are unable to swim, I was quite shocked when I read the actual stats. Its not being unconfident in water, actually not being able to swim, which means significantly higher risk of drowning. It was here I first read this:

www.thebsa.co.uk/

Sorry I don't want to jump on your thread but thought it was important to share.

Apologies, I did not look at heading properly. I did not realise this thread was for Black Mumsnet people only.

It is concerning. I wonder if it’s the dual impact of COVID and the last 12 months and aftermath of George Floyd having a particularly toxic effect on the mental health of black people. They charity Mind has just launched a new strategy saying it is going to do more for black people because they acknowledge they have worse mental health.

Also it must be so devastating for people who have worked so hard to get to uni, overcoming racism, often having high parental expectations and then having the devastation of COVID. I had a horrible incident last year where I received racial abuse and I just broke down afterwards because it hit me that nothing I did would ever make me valuable or good enough in some peoples eyes because of my skin colour

Is it a case of reporting of such cases increasing, rather than the incidence of the cases themselves?

Totally agree there has been a high spike in this. I thought the same. I find it all very strange that they are all non suspicious cases!

@Gothichouse40 this thread is not for black mumsnetters only. It is about the increase of black men going missing.

For what its worth, your points are very much valid, especially in regards to Native American women going missing who from what I've read are disposable however much it hurts to say that.

Thank you for bringing attention to Noah, this isn't a case I've heard before.

As for poor Nora, she's always in my thoughts.

The main thing I want to say is that this 'subcategory', whilst being aimed at black mumsnetters, respects the valid views and opinions of our white or non-ethnic sisters (and brothers) x

Received this abd wanted to share with you.

And apparently one boy was taken to a hiuse with other boys, but escaped abd gave detail on the ordeal. Has anyone else heard this?

Yes @samsamo, I saw this post and was really concerned. There has been a Black girl missing for two weeks as well and absolutely no interest from the media or anyone else besides Black people reposting on social media.

I mean seriously? A 13 year old girl and no response. I await the comments telling me it isn't about race but the brutality or severity of the crime. Entire manhunts have been issued for far less concerning cases not the nonchalance we see displayed when Black children go missing

@MassageBliss21

A high proportion of people from Black african caribbean and asian heritage are unable to swim, I was quite shocked when I read the actual stats. Its not being unconfident in water, actually not being able to swim, which means significantly higher risk of drowning. It was here I first read this:

www.thebsa.co.uk/

Sorry I don't want to jump on your thread but thought it was important to share.

Yes, this. Water deaths are one of the most common causes of BAME related ‘natural’ deaths. I should also point out that white people / police can be shit at identifying the correct race of a person of colour. So unless it’s the family saying it don’t believe that all the ‘black men’ found dead near bodies of water are actually black. Many might be South Asian or Indo-Caribbean.

I came across this website today. A tech whizz has set it up to help find missing Black people:

www.missingblackpeople.com

Hello Lottie, thank you. I thought perhaps I had ventured into the wrong place. Very much appreciate your comments. From what I have seen about Noah, there is I think to be some kind of inquest or enquiry in January. Im not sure of the legal terminology. Perhaps worth keeping an eye on the Northern Irish news.

Yes it's definitely gang violence because ALL young Black men are in gangs. Correct me if I'm wrong but the police's constant dismissive assumptions of the gang narrative have led to them not taking disappearances seriously only to find young men who are vulnerable, mentally distressed and in ill health frowned when it could have been prevented, I only have to look at Richard's case to see how badly he was let down because everyone assumes a young Black man cannot be vulnerable and must be off doing or selling drugs somewhere.

Thank you for your incredibly insightful suggestion 👏.

@TheVoiceInMyHead

Could it be related to increasing gang violence? Hit over the head and thrown in the water, with it then being hard to ascertain which bruises happened before or after death, etc?

Why Gang Violence? Please explain your logic here. This has been a uk wide problem.

Completely agree @DastardlytheFriendlyMutt. Young black people just aren’t allowed the same vulnerability. I live very close to where SE was taken and walk those paths most days in lockdown and it occurred to me that if it was my face on the news the assumption would probably be that it was gang or drug related. The mental health impact of knowing that some people will always regard you so poorly and less worthy of concern is a hard thing to carry.

Just caught the tail end of something on the news talking about the impact of lockdown and kids being out of school on safeguarding and it’s very worrying that there will be children falling under the radar and not being picked up by services as vulnerable. This could also be contributing but it doesn’t explain why it’s black kids disproportionally

I watched a documentary recently on the missing and murdered children of Atlanta. A horrifying time in Atlanta with parallels to the cases mentioned about in the UK today. I recommend reading about it.

*above

@TheVoiceInMyHead

Could it be related to increasing gang violence? Hit over the head and thrown in the water, with it then being hard to ascertain which bruises happened before or after death, etc?

@JustineMumsnet this is one example having just been on mumsnet for the last minutes. The above post is racist. Why on earth would it be gang related? Unless you were making an assumption that black people go missing because they are gang members. This post is made on a thread where, for example, Richard Okorogheye tragic passing has been discussed. He was a young boy with health issues and his mother and family have been betrayed appallingly by the police. For someone to just vade in and go “is it gang related” is horrific. Posts like this, bring deep distress and trauma to people on this board who spend their entire lives having to prove themselves to people. It’s triggering beyond belief. This is daily, and systemic.

@TheVoiceInMyHead

Could it be related to increasing gang violence? Hit over the head and thrown in the water, with it then being hard to ascertain which bruises happened before or after death, etc?

@TheVoiceInMyHead I’ve reported your bigoted and racist post.