10/19/05 A Victory for Tracy
Early on in this blog, I wrote about missing Robert Spellman. I had attempted a press release in the L.A. area media for his sister, Tracy.
Robert was featured in the USA Today article about lack of media coverage for missing adult males. My son, Jason, was also featured in the article. The L.A. media continues to ignore this case, even though Robert is "one of their own". I thought for sure that the fact that he was featured in USA Today would prompt more coverage for him, but I was wrong. This is a segment of that appeal to the L.A. media:
"Even right now in your community, there is a family in pain because their son, their brother, and their friend has been missing without a trace since April 12th, 2005. They have pleaded for media coverage and received only one story in a newspaper.
Robert Spellman is 27 years old, with brown hair and blue eyes. He is 5' 8", and weighs 165 lbs. He was last seen in Sherman Oaks, CA, and was possibly wearing Nike Shox shoes and carrying an Addias bag. If you have seen Robert, please call the Los Angeles Police Dept at 213-485-5381. Robert's sister, Tracy, will be happy to provide additional details. You may reach Tracy at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
I challenge you to provide more even coverage of missing person's cases regardless of sex, race, age, or circumstance. A story about my organization with a mention of Robert was recently in the USA Today. It highlighted the lack of media attention for missing males.
http://tinyurl.com/9n6n5
Please consider helping this family, and the countless others missing, by adopting a fair policy in regards to missing person's coverage. Thank you.
The next day, I wrote:
"The "cloudiest" part of the day was in knowing that once again, the media didn't come to the aid of a missing person's family, at least not yet. Robert Spellman's sister, Tracy, waited and hoped for a phone call informing her that someone was going to run the story of her brother. That phone call never came."
Month after month, Tracy kept churning out press releases to her local and other media for Robert, and month after month, she was ignored, but she never gave up.
Yet another appeal to the L.A. media was sent out today by Tracy, and this one was a little bit different. In it, Tracy announced that Robert's story is now featured on America's Most Wanted website. She is still asking for local coverage for her brother.
With AMW's hefty readership on the web, perhaps his story will be finally be noticed. It's past due, I'd say.
http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/brief.cfm?id=35346
To Tracy, I say "Never give up!" Robert is fortunate to have a loving sister like you. I pray that one day very soon, he will be able to tell you that himself.
Additional information about Robert can be found at the website created for him:
http://www.geocities.com/FindRobertSpellman/
Robert's Tipline: 877-821-4631
Robert was featured in the USA Today article about lack of media coverage for missing adult males. My son, Jason, was also featured in the article. The L.A. media continues to ignore this case, even though Robert is "one of their own". I thought for sure that the fact that he was featured in USA Today would prompt more coverage for him, but I was wrong. This is a segment of that appeal to the L.A. media:
"Even right now in your community, there is a family in pain because their son, their brother, and their friend has been missing without a trace since April 12th, 2005. They have pleaded for media coverage and received only one story in a newspaper.
Robert Spellman is 27 years old, with brown hair and blue eyes. He is 5' 8", and weighs 165 lbs. He was last seen in Sherman Oaks, CA, and was possibly wearing Nike Shox shoes and carrying an Addias bag. If you have seen Robert, please call the Los Angeles Police Dept at 213-485-5381. Robert's sister, Tracy, will be happy to provide additional details. You may reach Tracy at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
I challenge you to provide more even coverage of missing person's cases regardless of sex, race, age, or circumstance. A story about my organization with a mention of Robert was recently in the USA Today. It highlighted the lack of media attention for missing males.
http://tinyurl.com/9n6n5
Please consider helping this family, and the countless others missing, by adopting a fair policy in regards to missing person's coverage. Thank you.
The next day, I wrote:
"The "cloudiest" part of the day was in knowing that once again, the media didn't come to the aid of a missing person's family, at least not yet. Robert Spellman's sister, Tracy, waited and hoped for a phone call informing her that someone was going to run the story of her brother. That phone call never came."
Month after month, Tracy kept churning out press releases to her local and other media for Robert, and month after month, she was ignored, but she never gave up.
Yet another appeal to the L.A. media was sent out today by Tracy, and this one was a little bit different. In it, Tracy announced that Robert's story is now featured on America's Most Wanted website. She is still asking for local coverage for her brother.
With AMW's hefty readership on the web, perhaps his story will be finally be noticed. It's past due, I'd say.
http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/brief.cfm?id=35346
To Tracy, I say "Never give up!" Robert is fortunate to have a loving sister like you. I pray that one day very soon, he will be able to tell you that himself.
Additional information about Robert can be found at the website created for him:
http://www.geocities.com/FindRobertSpellman/
Robert's Tipline: 877-821-4631
posted by Kelly Jolkowski at 11:57 PM
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