Washington, D.C. has become the epicenter of discussion surrounding what appears to be an alarming number of young Black and Latino girls going missing. Officials in the city have asked for assistance from the FBI and the Justice Department in locating the kidnapped girls, with a trending topic, #MissingDCGirls, spreading across social media in recent days.
As reported by local outlet Fox 5, a town hall meeting was held this week to discuss this recent rash of kidnappings, with some speculation floating about that the instances are related to human trafficking and possible gang warfare. In data shared by Washington officials, just over 500 young people have gone missing in the city since the top of the year with a reported 22 cases remaining unsolved and over a dozen officially reported missing.
In the past few days, social media users, most especially on Twitter, have taken to speak up at the lack of media attention placed on the missing girls. Police have been criticized for what seemed to be a high number, but Fox 5 noted that the authorities have reported that missing children cases have actually lowered but the advent of social media made it appear to be a rising trend.
That still has not quelled the voices of many who feel that the abductions are disturbing and has the entire region on high alert. The aforementioned hashtag has sparked passionate discussion about the missing girls and has served as a rallying point for those who wish to the girls returned safely.
We’ve collected some of the #MissingDCGirls tweets, which are posted below and on the following pages.
https://twitter.com/sahluwal/status/845282075481559042
https://twitter.com/itzzkait/status/845277899557142532
https://twitter.com/RashaunWill/status/845295719154143232
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Photo: Public Domain
