Replies to '11/17 The Search for Natalee and Amy'

You make some good points.  If an Aruban girl was missing in the USA, it probably wouldn't even be necessary for Aruban authorities to step in because it is such a big country with an extremely well trained law enforcement system.  I don't really fault Aruba for their lack of expertise in that area, because they're a small island and this doesn't happen much there.  

Except that it's pretty well-documented that non-white girls don't get nearly as much media attention as white ones do.  I'm not saying that this is a U.S.-specific problem but it is a problem.  "White slavery"?  I thought  I saw some "Latina slavery" and some "Aruban slavery" there, too, but who was complaining?  Are we supposed to think it's worse somehow if the girl is white? 

While I feel terribly for both Miss Holloway and Ms. Twitty, and I get the impression both that Carlos 'n' Charlie's isn't a safe place and that the people that have been interviewed know more than they've told, I resent somewhat the attention that this whole case has received when there are a lot of other girls missing, who may be in similar situations, whose cases have not been able to win over this kind of media power.  I don't believe it's simply Ms. Twitty's persistence--lots of parents complain that they are told that their missing daughters are runaways, and cannot get help looking for them.    Not that I don't think finding Natalee is a worthy cause, but I would have liked to see Dr. Phil use this as an opportunity to call attention to missing children--teenage girls, in particular--in general.  All the girls the investigators talked to at the brothels are in the same situation that everyone fears Natalie is in, and need help just as much.