CHARLOTTE, N.C. — According to the National Crime Information Center, 57% of the 89,637 people actively missing at the end of 2020 were Black. Yet advocates who work closely with these cases say they don’t receive enough attention from law enforcement and media outlets.
Chandra Cleveland is worked as a law enforcement officer for decades before opening her own firm to conduct private investigations. She specializes in missing women of color.
“When they're gone missing, it's like a marginalized system of, 'We'll take the report and it'll be here,'" Cleveland said. "No one is listening. Their pictures are not on television.”
Cleveland is based in Columbia, South Carolina, but her work often brings her to Charlotte. Most recently, she helped the family of Deidre Reid bring attention to her case. Reid went missing in September of 2021. Last week, Emanuel Bedford, the father of her youngest son, was charged with her murder.
“Being close with somebody growing up, always seeing them, being able to talk to them, and then one day out of the blue this man takes her away and we don’t know nothing," Jennifer Reid, Deidre Reid's sister, said. "It’s just like she disappeared.”
Reid’s family doesn't believe her case would have moved forward if not for their determination, social media, and Cleveland's persistence.
“The reason why more Black and brown girls are going missing is because the perpetrators are able to see that no one is doing anything," Cleveland said.
According to the National Crime Information Center, a third of the almost 300,000 U.S. girls and women reported missing in 2020 were Black.
Cleveland says the first few hours after a person missing goes missing are the most vital, and she’d like to see a task force established focusing specifically on missing women of color.
“This marginalization of Black and brown women and girls has been going on for a long time," Cleveland said. "What we need to do is stop ignoring the elephant that's in the room, we need to come together and to get something done in order to stop this epidemic from happening.”
Through her work, Cleveland wants to help save women. She also provides information to parents and families on what to do when a loved one goes missing.
Contact Indira Eskieva at ieskieva@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.