16-Year-Old Georgia Teen Missing, Police Continue Search To Find Her

On January 11, 16-year old Christie Howard departed from her Atlanta, Georgia home at 11 am. Later in the day, she texted her mother that she was with family but did not confirm which family member. Now the police are on the search to find the missing teen, WJCL 22 reports.

Howard was last seen on Jan. 8, according to the Clayton County police.

“Christie Howard is described as a sixteen-year-old black female, with brown eyes, long black straight hair, 5’03” in height, and 100 lbs,” read the missing persons report on Facebook. “Christie was last seen wearing a blue Nike hoodie with white letters on the front, light blue jeans pants, and a black backpack with ‘Lady Raiders Volleyball’ on it.”

In 2020, approximately 100,000 Black women and girls were listed as missing. In 2021, the continuous search for Gabby Petito stirred the irritation of many Black parents whose children’s cases were often overlooked.

“You wish you lived in a world where everything was equal, but it’s really not equal,” David Robinson said to CNN. Robinson’s son, Daniel, was last seen at his place of work in 2021 and has not been found.

HBO recently aired a docuseries that follows Black and Missing Foundation’s attempts to find missing Black people and to focus on their disappearances. The program also investigates how the mainstream media ignores these cases, the Huffington Post reports.

Late journalist Gwen Ifill coined the term “missing white woman syndrome” during her attendance at a conference “Media Coverage of National Security” panel.

“If there is a missing white woman, you’re going to cover that every day,” said Ifill.

Last year, Minnesota was the first state to establish a task force for missing and murdered Black women and girls, and it is now a law since September with $150,000 funding its execution. Maybe more states will implement such measures soon.

Anyone with information about Christie Howard should contact Clayton County Police Department.