Carlee Russell: A missing Black woman and a social media frenzy, explained

Vox ^ | 24 July 2023 | Marin Cogan

[Steely Tom]

Here's the "explanation," which is near the end of the story:

When a story about a possible crime sparks national attention to the extent this one did, it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The reactions are informed not only by the facts of the case, but filtered through broader contexts that exist outside the particulars of the incident. And those responses can tell us a lot about the culture in which we live.

The public concern about Russell’s case was driven in part by the understanding that Black women rarely receive the same amount of attention that white women get when they go missing. It was also driven by the frightening details around her disappearance, including the reports of a lost child. America has been consumed by a moral panic about the idea of human traffickers lurking in the shadows, ready to kidnap unsuspecting women and children and sell them into sexual slavery.

The outsize fear is driven by internet conspiracy theories and misinformation, social media, politicians, and pop culture. But the reality is that the people most at risk of human trafficking are those who are already vulnerable because they live at the margins of society, sometimes as children in the foster care system, or as undocumented immigrants, or as people struggling with addiction or homelessness. They are often forgotten because the authorities don’t always identify them as victims.

And in this case, it seems clear that while our culture is obsessed with salacious-sounding crimes, we’re also, whatever the truth of this case turns out to be, deeply fascinated by the idea of scam artists.

[BlackAdderess]

She’s a pretty young woman who was alleged to have disappeared after being a good Samaritan by coming to the aid of a child in need. I prayed for her. Now it looks like she lied about the whole thing, and you know what I’m going to do? Pray for her some more, because clearly she needs God’s guidance (and don’t we all, lol!)

[Steely Tom]

Yes, I didn’t see that exact article, but I did start looking into recent stories involving Emma Sulkowicz.

I quickly found information indicating that she had made friends with some rather conservative people and had decided she wanted to update her identity, so to speak.

That doesn’t change the fact that she was once a nutcase. I was addressing the comment by Kharis13 that “She may have serious mental or emotional issues...”

But it is encouraging, no doubt about that.

[Tupelo]

On the night of July 13, Carlee Russell reported she was being kidnapped by an evil orange man. Hmmmm
The media frenzy started on the morning of July 14.
**Black woman kidnapped by orange man.** Nuther Hmmmm
By July 24, Carlee Russell's story had collapsed like a house of cards. Now the story is, Carlee Russell is a disturbed youg woman.

Why in God's Name do people believe any first story in the MSM? Especially stories about the victimization of America's favorite victims.
At one time, when these stories appeared, we first looked for ‘Rev’ Al Sharpton’s name in the story. Nowdays, not at all.

[wildbill]

I think most people are beginning to knock off these Black fraudsters’ stories early because they don’t sound right from the start.
What amazes me is that the police are able to get to the truth so often.