N.C. city on edge as 9 women vanish

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC/AP

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - They spent their nights jumping in and out of strange cars, trolling otherwise empty streets lined with decaying storefronts and boarded-up homes. Many sold sex to support drug habits or children left in the care of worried, hardworking grandmothers.

Even when they were picked up for drugs or prostitution, nights in jail looming, they called home to let their families know they were OK. Then, one by one, the calls stopped.

Since 2005, nine women who lived at the edges of the poor community in this small North Carolina city have disappeared. Six bodies were found along rural roads just a few miles outside town, most so decomposed that investigators could not tell how they died. At least one of the women was strangled, and all the deaths have been classified as homicides. Three women are still missing.

Police will not say whether they suspect a serial killer, but people in the community about 60 miles northeast of Raleigh do, and they're impatient with law enforcement efforts to investigate the slayings.





Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32414958/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

---

If these were blondes & from middle to upper class families cable TV would be all over this.

[tekisui]

1. You are so right about skin color mattering in the coverage.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

[theHandpuppet]

3. Yep. All the more resaon to keep this thread kicked

Thank you for posting this.

[Blue_Tires]

62. +1

[Taverner]

2. They wouldn't even have to belong to middle class families

They just have to be white and pretty

[WriteDown]

5. Or not drug addicts and prostitutes...

let's be real here.

[Taverner]

9. Remember those New Jersey women who were killed in Atlantic City

When it was just black prostitutes, people didn't worry. Once white prostitutes started to die, people were concerned.

[bettyellen]

11. and they printed their pics much more frequently!

[WriteDown]

14. Never saw one story about that. nt

[gopiscrap]

67. I'm from the Northwest and they

half-heartedly pursued the Green River Killer for years and years until finally catching him. IT wasn't until the newspaper (one lone reporter) with a great article discussing the situation (most of the women were prostitutes) and the fact that not much was being done aboutit. THey compared it to when Ted Bundy was doing his killing of cute white college woman and what a different response that was.

The irony of the whole situation is that the conservation suburbs of Seattle elected an asshole named Reichart as their elected US Congressman. Reichart was the worthless Sheriff who basically sat on this until shamed by the paper to kick the investigation into high gear. The maddening thing about it is that everytime who hear this gop lemming spew, the first thing out of his is how he caught the Green River Killer. It only took the asshole 2 decades to do it!

So yes, it has a lot to do with race and or status!

[Mystayya]

73. Thats not always the case.

Woonsocket RI had a serial killer 2 blocks from me who murdered at least 5 women, cut them up, including my best friend's 5 month pregnant niece. Never made national news. Got a little coverage in RI. The women were all on the edge of society for various reasons. He was convicted of 3.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/07/31/ri_man_is_serial_killer_say_officials/

No one cared when these young white women were missing because they weren't the right kind of women.

It's about class AND race in my opinion.

[Taverner]

75. Well true - if a killer killed a middle class woman who looked like Halle Berry

There probably would be more coverage

[Mithreal]

12. Green River killer was pretty widely publicized

I lived a few miles away from Rocky Mount in Spring Hope, NC, for some time.

Let's you be real. The depression and hopelessness in the surrounding communities created so many drug addicts and prostitutes.

And of course, their lives are worth less because they were prostitutes or addicts?

Serial killers regularly target these people, no? And they get a lot of news coverage. Has this story not become national because the police don't yet want to admit they have a serial killer?

[WriteDown]

15. Green River killer was widely publicized due to the sheer

amount of murders. Rocky Mount is hopeless? Given its relative proximity to RTP, that doesn't seem accurate. I lived in both Chapel Hill and Wilmington, NC and used to travel semi-regularly to Wilson, NC.

[Mithreal]

19. I was a teacher there and knew the community rather well.

Proximity to RTP is not as important as you might think.

I have been away more than a decade so things may have changed but prostitutes walking the streets during daylight hours was not irregular when I lived there. I also lived in Cary and worked in RTP and Durham as well. You do not have to travel very far outside the Raleigh area to enter the Deep South, but that is not my main point.

Speaking of drug addicts or prostitutes as if their lives were worth less is what I took offense to and believe me when I say I was worried just a little that I might recognize one of those names.

I mention the Green River killer because the police official turned the capture of that serial killer into a Congressional seat but I do not know when that story left the local community and became a national one.

Just callousness of your comment is what I took offense to and I am willing to bet you did not intend to be callous but doesn't change the fact your words were.

[WriteDown]

28. You misunderstood...

I wasn't commenting on their worth, just sensalionist value. And trust me, nowhere in NC is the Deep South. I've been through LA, MS, and AL and they are worlds apart.

[Alcibiades]

50. If you don't think that there's "Deep South" in NC

you need to spend a little more time here. I've had folks try to tell me that all kinds of places are southern, from Missouri to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Not southern. North Carolina is intensely southern, and part of the deep south, for better or worse.

We have had a long tradition of responsible state government, and have avoided many of the bad things that have gone along with much of the south's decision to embrace ignorance, class and racial divisions, freaky religion and the Republican Party. But when you stop in one of our towns to enjoy the scent of our magnolias, to eat some North Carolina-Style Barbecue, to visit one of our historic plantations, or to see the very birthplace of NASCAR, you will find that this is the Deep South. I live about ten miles away from the very spot where BC Powder was first formulated. If that does not qualify as the deep south, then I don't know what does.

[WriteDown]

59. I lived 10 years in NC...

Trust me, not the Deep South. Try Alabama or Mississipi. No town in NC compares and I've been everywhere from Wilmington to Hilton Head to Cherokee.

PS. Oh, and there is nothing I miss more than a good pig pickin'. Best stuff on Earth.

[Alcibiades]

78. I've lived in NC and SC for most of my life

It's hard to understand how SC is somehow part of the "deep south" and NC somehow isn't. I'm a Carolina native, and I just don't get it.

[AlbertCat]

68. BC Powder was first formulated

Oh baloney!

NC is not the deep south! Even the mountainous areas do not compare to MS or AL. BC powder is no indication of the deep south. Jesus!


If you think NC is the Deeeeeep South, then you must think rural PA is also the deep south. :eyes:

[Alcibiades]

77. It's a reference to a cultural artifact that is part of southern life

You don't provide any evidence to back up your claim that we are not part of the deep south. I was born in NC, but most of my family is from SC, which is included in any definition of the "deep south." Personally, I see little in NC that makes it somehow distinctively "unsouthern."

If you don't think Appalachian folks are southern, that's fine. They have a different way of being southern than folks in the Carolina Piedmont or Mississippi or Alabama, but they are southern.

What would you accept as an indicator of "Deep South" status? Is out music not southern enough? Our food? Do we not have enough sex with our sisters? I don't get it.

[WriteDown]

81. Here you go...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_south

[Alcibiades]

83. Proves my point

"Some definitions also include part or all of Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Arkansas."

[WriteDown]

84. Oh please...

The widely used definition does not as the article makes clear. There is a reason its called the "deep" south and not just the south. I am still amazed at people who just have to here the trace of a southern accent and think they're in hicksville. Yet the new hot trend in NYC is southern bbq.

[Alcibiades]

85. It's not a measure of "Hicksvilleness,"

but of southernness. It seems like you are the one conflating the two. From the entry:

"Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the antebellum period. The Deep South was also commonly referred to as the Lower South or the "Cotton States".<1><2>

Today, the Deep South is usually delineated as being those states and areas where things most often thought of as "Southern" exist in their most concentrated form."

Sorry, but first you start talking about how you understand NC because you've been from Cherokee to Wilmington to Hilton Head, the latter of which isn't actually in NC, which would be a little like me saying I understand Texas because I used to live in Weatherford.

Does plantation farming determine what is most southern today? Probably not, but there are scads of plantation moldering in rural NC. If we should use such an ancient standard for determining whether a state is part of the "Deep South," perhaps the Civil War would be a better guide. It is true that, of all the southern states, NC was the one to resist the horrible idea of secession the most (vying with Tennessee for that honor), but once the war started, NC paid a greater price than any other southern state, supplying more troops than any and suffering more casualties than any. Here's a different Wikipedia entry on the subject:

"The first Confederate soldier to be killed in the Civil War was Private Henry Wyatt, a North Carolinian. He was killed in the Battle of Big Bethel in June 1861. At the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the 26th North Carolina Regiment participated in Pickett/Pettigrew's Charge and advanced the farthest into the Northern lines of any Confederate regiment. During the Battle of Chickamauga the 58th North Carolina Regiment advanced farther than any other regiment on Snodgrass Hill to push back the remaining Union forces from the battlefield. At Appomattox Court House in Virginia in April 1865, the 75th North Carolina Regiment, a cavalry unit, fired the last shots of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War. For many years, North Carolinians proudly boasted that they had been "First at Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg and Chickamauga, and Last at Appomattox."

Though it doesn't mention it, the 26th also suffered more casualties in the war than any other regiment, north or south, and also the highest percentage losses of any regiment in any battle, north or south, suffering 88% losses at Gettysburg.

Whether my home state is southern has nothing to do with what's hot in NYC. Rocky Mount is a very southern city, with rich traditions in textiles and tobacco, quintessentially southern industries. Maybe you, living out west in Texas and imagining that Hilton Head is a fair ways north of where it actually is, imagine yourself to be a better judge of what's southern and what's not than someone who's actually from the place you're talking about, but I'd bet my last Moon Pie that's not the case.

[WriteDown]

87. Ugh....

First off I meant to say Nag's Head, but I have in fact been to Hilton Head. Personally, I include Maryland and below as being the "Deep South." My personal definition includes anything below the Mason-Dixon line. I'll even throw in Southern California in there since they're really far South. :eyes: You really need to travel deep into Alabama and Mississippi.

[Alcibiades]

89. I have

You could throw in Arkansas and Georgia for good measure. There are places very much like that in North Carolina: it's a big state. Nothing west of Louisiana counts as southern to me, though: that's the west.

[loudsue]

69. I live between Raleigh/RTP area and Rocky Mount.

It's pretty hopeless, and rural. These missing women have been on the local news for a long time now, and the families have organized very well to try to get some publicity for these unsolved murders: publicity to help prevent more disappearances AND to help get these solved.

[ekwhite]

34. Yep

Rocky Mount was that way 20 years ago when I still lived on the East Coast. I can't even imagine how it is now, during a recession as deep as this one.

[lumberjack_jeff]

47. The first ten green river victims, not so much. n/t

[Mithreal]

49. Thanks. Figured that might have been the case. nt

[emilyg]

25. Yes.

[vadawg]

65. yup people start to care when its members of their social group or economic group

samething happens with race, if its white girls being killed we get less support from the black community than from the white and vice cersa, people at their base are tribal and im afraid addicts and prostitutes are at the bottom of everyones list.

[Zodiak]

4. My God, this is horrible

And you are right. We should have heard of this by now.

A potential body count of nine should be huge news.

[EFerrari]

6. Oh, no. This is horrible.

[WriteDown]

7. Or Ashton Kutcher, Tom Cruise, or Kate Hudson....

Let's be serious. Drug addicts and prositutes missing has never garnered much attention. Even in Jack the Ripper's time.

[bettyellen]

10. blond prostitutes? they get their pics on page one, dark skinned ones, notsomuch

[WriteDown]

13. Where?

Not nationally.

[bettyellen]

42. try google images i can tell you without ever going there you'll see 90% white gals

because those are the pics that get published. it;s always been that way. where the fuck have you been?

[No Elephants]

22. Guess that explains why no one ever heard of Jack the Ripper.

:silly:

[SIMPLYB1980]

8. Yeah this is not good at all.

Prostitutes or not there should be more news about this than I have heard.

[pattmarty]

16. Well first they are prostitutes. Let's face it, nobody cares.........................

...........You are right about blonde middle and upper class thing, but those women wouldn't have to turn to prostitution. I am for the legalization of prostitution, but the main thing here is the police and the media have to start caring. As the country economically declines (jobless recovery), you will start seeing more poor white women on the streets.

[XemaSab]

23. More children of the middle and upper classes work in the sex trade than you would think

Spitzer's girlfriend, anyone? :shrug:

[noiretextatique]

24. not all of the women are prostitutes

i believe there are two women missing now who aren't prostitutes.

[pattmarty]

72. I just assumed they were. I figured they're easy prey, that's why shitbags.......

............prey on them.

[Solly Mack]

17. K&R

[Libertas1776]

18. Young blond

White chick goes missing, the MSM goes ape shit with 24/7 coverage, "in depth" analysis', dramatic reenactments, panel discussions etc and so on.

A bunch of black woman go missing. Well, your lucky if they squeeze that in between the weather and a special interest story on a water skiing squirrel.


Although, I am sure class also plays a role. Had it been a bunch of poor white girls from trailer parks, the MSM would have it as a their breaking story for a few minutes than push it to the back of the line.

[meowomon]

20. K&R

These women matter! Their lives are important to their families. They have children, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers and friends. They matter to us because they need to come home. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I pray for their return to their families who love and miss them.

[LisaL]

30. Six of them will not return to their families because

they are dead. Six bodies have been found. If this is a serial killer then the three missing ones are probably dead also.

[meowomon]

55. I know they are probably not alive

But I still pray they will return to their families. I pray for their families and for their return.

[susanna]

61. In agreement. n/t

[SeattleGirl]

21. Jeebus, this reminds me of the Green River Killer. He went after

prostitutes too.

I hope they catch whoever is doing this, and soon.

Shouldn't matter what color their skin is.

Shouldn't matter if they are prostitutes or not.

They are human beings, for christ's sake!

[susanna]

58. Exactly my thoughts.

"Police will not say whether they suspect a serial killer." Hmmm...all victims of the same general culture, all the same race. Nah. "Nothing to see here, folks, move along!"

Huh?! WTH? I say this as a resident of Detroit, once the "murder capital of the world." Not that I'm happy about that distinction, but I want to make a point. Here, it's usually drug or gang violence; senseless and seemingly random...sketchy connections, really. Serial murders are relatively rare here. Last one I remember happened back in the 70s (Oakland County child killer...who didn't really just target Oakland County.)

Yet, in a relatively low crime city/region of NC, six (maybe nine) similarly grouped black women are murdered (or missing) and they are wondering if someone is targeting them serially? I have no words to describe my disgust for this inaction. None. And I'm a wordy sort of person.

And I agree - all women have value. I don't give a rat's behind what race they are, or what they do or don't do. This is terrifying. They have one sick murderer on their hands. They need to find this murderer, and fast. If they don't t will only lead to more and more.

Egads. I am speechless at this; I hadn't heard of it. Thanks to the OP for posting this.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

70. Often, law enforcement won't make a public declaration of "Serial Killer"

because many times the killer gets a lot of self-gratification from seeing his (not a her most of the time) victims' stories in the press. The label of "Serial Killer" elevates that prestige, and can escalate the killing. You can bet your ass that behind the scenes this is being considered a serial case.

[susanna]

71. This is likely true. Good point. n/t

[foxfeet]

26. K&R

[ms liberty]

27. mr liberty is telling me right now that he heard a little bit about this...

on the news after the last spree killing. He said that the story was of people speaking out about how this case hasn't gotten any attention. We live in NC (on the western side, in the foothills) but I had not heard about it, so I'll bet mr liberty heard it on WNCW, which is what he listens to most often on terrestrial radio.

This story needs attention. Thanks for posting. K&R

[ekwhite]

36. 6 dead and this is the first I've heard of it

That is a huge number for a small town like Rocky Mount. If they were white and pretty, there would be 24/7 coverage of the event.

[ms liberty]

40. Very true - sad, disgusting, but true. n/t

[stevedeshazer]

29. It reminds me of Robert Lee Yates, the skid row killer from Spokane

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lee_Yates

[Wetzelbill]

31. that's exactly who I thought of too

[stevedeshazer]

33. That guy's case wasn't highly publicized, either

At least outside that region. The Oregonian had extensive coverage at the time, but it was more of a Northwest thing.

The victims weren't necessarily blond and pretty, but every bit as dead.

[Wetzelbill]

35. yes I only knew about it

Because I lived in Montana and we heard of it a little, but also I'd go visit my relatives in Spokane around that time and they were talking about it.

[create.peace]

57. creepy.....

Yates grew up in Oak Harbor, Washington<1> in a middle-class family that attended a local Seventh-day Adventist church. He graduated from Oak Harbor High School in 1970, and in 1975, he was hired by the Washington State Department of Corrections to work as a prison guard at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. After working there for six months, Yates enlisted in the United States Army, in which he became certified to fly civilian transport airplanes and helicopters. Yates was stationed in various countries outside the continental United States, including Germany and later Somalia during the United Nations peacekeeping mission of the early 1990s. He earned several military awards and medals during his 19-year military career, including three Army achievement medals, three Army commendation medals, two Armed Forces expeditionary medals, and three meritorious service medals.<2>

[FourScore]

32. And why is this the first time we're hearing about this?

Could it be because they were black prostitutes???

:argh:

[Tunkamerica]

39. Maybe nationally, but we heard of it here when the last victim

was found. Somehow 5 bodies found wasn't a serial killer but 6 bodies and they suddenly put 2 and 2 together. And it's not necessarily a color thing because I believe the edgecombe county sheriff is black as well.

[bettyellen]

43. it;s certainly a color thing that theres so little outrage or press coverage

[FourScore]

88. That's what I was referring to. Thanks. n/t

[sofa king]

51. There could be other explanations.

For example, if the circumstances of the murders differ enough, the crimes may have been considered unrelated.

Or, the killer may be in contact with the police, as they are sometimes wont to do, demanding more publicity, or for that matter none at all. I don't really know what the utility of giving or not giving that publicity to a serial killer would be, but there's a reason I'm not in that line of work. Now I've just confused myself by writing this paragraph.

There are other, darker possibilities, too. Sheriff is an elected office in NC, if I recall correctly. I've sometimes wondered if that's such a good idea, because it may make certain politician/law enforcers unwilling to admit their inability to catch such a criminal as this. Or, the killer could be intentionally exploiting jurisdictional lines or even lines of authority within a particular police department. One of the creepier things about those people is that they like to cozy up to the investigation of their own crimes, which can keep them a few steps ahead of the law for awhile. Or, the police in that area may simply be overwhelmed with other crimes as meth and poverty continue to spread.

I know for sure that it's a bad thing, and I hope the killer is stopped soon.

[susanna]

60. Excellent points.

Things I had not thought of.

Like you, though, I hope they find this sick individual soon, before it gets worse. :-(

[Haole Girl]

37. " Police will not say whether they suspect a serial killer"

D'UH.

[rasputin1952]

66. That was my first reaction as well...

Some law enforcement braintrust there!


9 women missing

6 bodies found in close proximity to each other

At least one probably strangled

Women alleged to be prostitutes/drug users


Jeez...these people are incredibly dense, they need to get an FBI Profiler, get on the ball and catch this guy!

[barbtries]

38. i had no idea

and i live in NC. since 2005.

[704wipes]

41. wasn't Rocky Mount the Mount Pilot near Mayberry?

on Andy Griffifth Show?, which of course never had black people portrayed in it....??
Seems like I recall that it was general consensus that it was.../maybe not

[lildreamer316]

46. No, that's Mt. Airy

north of me, here in G'boro.

[Ex Lurker]

48. there were a few black people toward the end

when it was in color. But only in the crowd scenes. I don't remember any ever having speaking parts, and I've seen every episode more times than I can count.

[lildreamer316]

44. I LIVE In NC and HAD NOT HEARD of this. That's BULLSHIT.

The fact that I had no clue about this (I watch local news sporactically, but word gets around about stuff like this, and I check the online news pretty often) is really upsetting.

If they were white and blonde this would probably have already been solved.

[Pavulon]

82. These are super poor counties. They called in the FBI

that is pretty much the best they can do. Sheriff is investigating, sheriff departments are generally underfunded in NC.

[Captain Hilts]

45. The theory is that prostitutes and drug addicts have it coming to them. nt

[Odin2005]

52. Ugh, this has all the hallmarks of serial rape-killings.

:cry:

[Jkid]

53. Why am I getting the feeling that this is similar to the Ipswich murders?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipswich_2006_serial_murders

[create.peace]

54. ding ding ding!!

'If these were blondes & from middle to upper class families cable TV would be all over this.'

[Captain Hilts]

74. Prostitutes are expendable. nt

[BattyDem]

56. Couldn't understand why I hadn't heard anything about this before now ...

then I saw the photos of the missing women. :-(

[DAMANgoldberg]

86. No mention here...

I'm in Charlotte, about 230 miles west of Rocky Mount. However, the killing spree in Gaffney SC and Dallas NC was a lot closer, no more than 50 miles and inside of the Charlotte TV market (Gaffney is technically part of Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville DMA, but ch. 3, 9, and WJZY are available on Charter cable). Also, got a reporter from CNN and News14 Carolina to cover the story. It is a function of location, Gaffney and Gastonia are much easier to get to than Rocky Mount for most of the country.

[winyanstaz]

63. Police wont say they suspect a serial killer? What?

Are they all brain dead?
This kind of reaction from law enforcement encourages serial killers who pick on prostitutes because they believe no one will care.
we do care and this needs to have the fbi brought in or a major crime team set up because these cops are not doing their jobs.
Will they wait until the number swells to a Ted Bundy type of killing field or will they get their butts in gear here?
Where is the main stream media? (cue the crickets)

[Island Blue]

64. Just so tragic.

I've heard this reported on the Greenville, NC news. One thing you have to understand is that Rocky Mount is in northeastern NC and therefore doesn't really exist in the eyes of the rest of the state, much less the rest of the country. That could be why no one else has heard of this. (That wasn't sarcasm btw, just the truth.)

Such easy access to I95 could make it easy for a killer who might live somewhere way outside of the area to dissappear without a trace. Also, Rocky Mount and neighboring Wilson have been plagued with gang violence during recent years. You have to wonder if the killings are somehow related.

You are right though, if these were white women everyone in the country would know about this. Tragic.

[cindyfaulkner]

76. Scary stuff that.

[mimitabby]

79. not the Green River Killer, he's still behind bars

but it's the same nasty ugly habit of killing.

[mntleo2]

80. I was thinking what you wrote before I read it

...women of color aren't "newsworthy" when blonde blue eyed women are. Plus they are prostitutes.

If they just legalized this victimless activity (except perhaps angry wives who may feel victimized), they could regulate the spread of disease, make it impossible for lazy pimps to prey on young girls, create 18 and over laws that could be enforced, and create safe places for women to work.

No I have never been a prostitute nor do I have any dear friends who are, but I do know the broken hearted mother of a young 13 year old girl who was a Green river victim ~ they only found her head. she is never mentioned as one of the victims except in the "lineup" pics the news shows. The white ones are the always the ones prominently shown. She was a runaway, just 13 and her pimp is now in jail too, but it is too late for her. I am sure he made lots of money off her body while she was alive. Maybe she would still be alive and not be vicitimized by men who forced her out on the street in the middle of the night so she could bring them some more "bling" while they laid around expecting a WOMAN to bring in the bacon. This young girl, who btw was a beautiful young woman of color, her mom a single mom working McJobs and poor, though white. Nobody was worried about her except her frantic mother who begged the police to look for her but was told she had to wait 48 hours before they could do anything ...

Let me see, Gary Ridgeway has "only" admitted to killing over 25 prostitutes though they think he may have killed more like 100 women, mostly women of color ...

Nevada's legalized prostitution should be examined to see if it works to protect women and men who are prostitutes, but something tells me it works a lot better than it did for this 13 year old girl and the other women ...

Cat In Seattle

[rocktivity]

90. Sounds like a textbook serial killer

who will no doubt plead insanity--though he's "sane" enough to discard the bodies and victimize people the cops would be least likely to care about.

:(
rocktivity

[busybl]

91. no wonder dems can't get anything done.

I have noticed on this posting and many others how easy it is to lead posters off track. Where in the op does it ask if NC is the deep south? It is so frustrating. Look, look a shiny thing and off we go.