Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: Enough of van der Sloot! What about Baby Gabriel?

"I am SICK of hearing about Joran van der Sloot! Why aren't we talking about Kyron Horman, the missing Oregon seven-year-old?" (Actually, his case IS back in the news now that the stepmother has become a Person of Interest). I hear this kind of sentiment quite often. When we were talking about Casey Anthony day in and day out, people asked why we weren't talking about Baby Gabriel anymore. Or when the Haleigh Cummings case was a constant topic after a majority of the players were busted for selling drugs, I heard, "Why aren't we talking about Kayleah Wilson?" I will explain exactly why.

Bombshell tonight! Breaking News!

Joran van der Sloot's mother calls him a sicko! Monday, the judge is going to interrogate van der Sloot. Van der Sloot changes his story again! (okay, I made that last headline up, but give it another 24 hours and it will probably be true).


Haleigh Cumming's case. Umm.....nothing really new. The scumbags are sitting around in jail. Two weeks ago Misty Croslin got a new trial date and last week Donna Brock plead guilty. Yawn.

Kayleah Wilson case. Police are still investigating. Okay.

Baby Gabriel Johnson case. Three weeks ago doctors said Elizabeth Johnson, baby Gabriel's poor excuse for a mother, is not competent to stand trial. Boy, did she pull one over on them. Gabriel, still missing.

And there you go. It is about "news." The simple fact is, people want to hear what is new and newsworthy. If there is nothing new about a case, it is difficult to put it in in a show because there is simply is nothing new to say. Now, admittedly, sometimes "breaking news" and "bombshell tonight" is a bit of an overstatement, the news is so thin you kind of smirk when the "explosive" information is given. But, hey, there still has to be something, something to work with, something to discuss, at least a slightly different angle. So, when they can't even come up with the tiniest thing about a case that is new, the show is going to move on to a case that is more active. When something breaks, believe me, that "cold" case will be back. There are many missing persons and unsolved murders around the country but there is simply nothing new to report on those cases, only an update that, yes, they are still missing or dead and no new evidence has come to light. Such noninformation isn't exciting news and so it is rarely reported as news.

I wish we could push cold cases one after the other, seeking more information and never letting the victims be forgotten. But if national television shows did that all the time, they would completely lose their audiences, the shows would fold, and no cases at all would be brought to light. At least we DO learn a bit about quite a few cases out there and some, long forgotten cases are occasionally showcased, if even for a minute or two. Television can only do so much; we in our own communities must push for justice for our local murdered citizens. Call your papers, call your local news, call your councilmen. Don't let your murdered neighbors be forgotten or allow the community to forget that a dangerous killer is still roaming your town.

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown