5 months pregnant and nowhere to be found, where is Cheri Dawson?
When Laci Peterson went missing, the world seemed to stop. The 7 and a half months missing pregnant woman became a household name everywhere, grabbing the hearts of Americans. “Who would take a pregnant woman!” was probably the thought that was on the minds of men and women alike.
But despite the ongoing and national attention she received, her case was under fire when Latoyia Figueroa, another missing pregnant woman, went missing a few years later. The subject was “media bias in the reporting of missing women” and it was causing uproar across the nation. Figueroa, who was Hispanic and black, did not receive nearly the amount of attention that Peterson did, despite the similarities in their cases.
On a CNN segment, Brooke Anderson asked the question: “Why do stories like Natalee Holloway, like Laci Peterson, like Chandra Levy get so up attention? Could it be in part because they`re white? Would the media have been so obsessed if they had been black women?”
To this day, no one seem to know the answer to that question. Some say racism. Some say it’s a social and economic problem. Others say that it’s just plain foolishness. Whatever the case is, there’s another missing pregnant woman, and she needs your help.
More than two weeks ago, 5 months pregnant woman Cheri Dawson went missing from Auburn, Alabama. She left behind a 7 year old son and her car was found burned to the metal just one day after she was reported missing.
Family members described Cheri, who is also a member of the Army Reserve, as a mom who would never go one day without calling her son.
“He’s having a very rough time. He’s having a very rough time. He’s cried a lot. He’s asking for her. He’s missing her a lot,” said Charlotte Barnes (Cheri’s aunt) describing how Dawson’s son is coping.
Barnes says her niece is a hard worker and has served in the Army with one deployment to Afghanistan.
“Please, for her son’s sake, for her grandparents on both sides sake, for her aunts and uncles on both sides. Please just help us have closure,” said Barnes.
Cheri is described as a black female, about 5’4, 140 pounds, with dark hair and hazel eyes.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Dawson is asked to call the Auburn Police Division at (334) 501-3140 or leave a tip anonymously at (334) 246-1391.
Black women and women under age 20 were at highest risk of being murdered during or after pregnancy, according to a study done by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Black women had a maternal homicide risk about seven times that of white women, and black women ages 25 to 29 are about 11 times as likely as white women in that age group to be killed when pregnant or in the year following childbirth. [Source]
It may be too late for Cheri. Please share Cheri’s story if you can. To this date, Google News only shows two stories on Cheri. The last known article on her was written four days ago. Cheri needs your help. Someone knows something, and her case will turn cold if no new leads turn up. So please share, retweet or blog on this issue.
(via gingerberrycat)
