What’s “Missing” from the Media? Missing Black Women

It is obvious that the mainstream media does not pay attention to missing black women.  Especially considering this case is almost identical to that of Natalee Holloway, who went missing on a school trip to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Aruba for her high school graduation.  (See http://arubanboycott.blogspot.com)

This time her name is Phylicia Moore, an 18-year old honor student from New Jersey.  She earned and saved every penny in order to go to Africa for a goodwill class trip to Ghana to donate books to orphaned children suffering from AIDS.  23 classmates joined her, along with nine chaperones.

Phylicia Moore died on April 15, 2007.  This is almost two months later!  Why didn’t the media pick up on this?  Another 18-year old girl murdered in another country?

What Facts Do We Know?

Moore was last seen at 10:30 p.m. at the pool of her hotel with all the students and chaperones when she decided to go back to her room for the evening.  Around 9:00 a.m. the next day, Moore was found dead, partially submerged in the hotel pool with her clothes on and no shoes.

More Questions:

Did Phylicia share a room with another student?  Are there security cameras at the hotel?  If so, were they checked?  Why weren’t the students and chaperones officially questioned instead of submitting vague statements to Ghana officials before leaving?

Moore’s father, Douglass charged, “The chaperones didn’t do a bed check…someone murdered her and made it look like a drowning.”  Ghana officials ruled her death as “an accidental drowning”; however, two months later no toxicology tests have been completed to rule out other possibilities!  The preliminary autopsies in Ghana and the United States opined “an undetermined cause of death”.  The Moore family hired an independent pathologist who determined that Phylicia Moore had been placed in the water only a short time after she was found.

Douglass Moore is questioning the autopsy and is urging federal agents to step in.  However, Ghana is not required to petition assistance from the United States over a murdered American unless they ASK for help.  Since April 15, Ghana has not asked federal officials for help in solving this case.  The Moore family believes that Ghana officials are a part of a cover-up in the murder of his daughter.

Two months later…what has Ghana done?