In October, a Kansas City woman escaped from an Excelsior Springs home where she was being held captive by Timothy Haslett, Jr. Her story caused outrage in the Black community that police weren't taking cases of missing Black women seriously.
The Kansas City Police Department reinstated its missing persons unit in April, but the death of Jaynie Crosdale, who was connected to the Haslett case, raises more questions about how police handle similar cases.
Black women make up about 15% of the U.S. population, but a third of missing women. And in Kansas City, the proportion is even higher.
Kris Wade, executive director at The Justice Project KC, is hopeful that recent efforts by Kansas City Police Chief Stacy Graves will bring more sensitivity to the issue — but says that there's still not enough attention to victims.
"They're people just like everyone else," Wade told KCUR's Up To Date. "A person isn't necessarily a prostitute. That's not what a person is. That's what a person does... I think it's really important to separate the actions from the inner core of the person."
- Peggy Lowe, investigative reporter at KCUR
- Kris Wade, executive director at The Justice Project KC
