Earlier this week, 22-year-old Gabby Petito’s remains were recently discovered by police; her fiance is now a suspect in her murder. This is a tragic turn of events. It’s tragic when anyone’s child goes missing. But it would be a lie to say we treat each missing person case as the tragedy it is.

The first thing many in the Black, brown, and Indigenous communities thought when Petito went missing was, ‘Why isn’t this much attention paid to our children?’ One family, in particular, was outraged by the level of intense media coverage over Petito’s case, while his son had gotten so little. 

David Robinson II is the father of Daniel Robinson. Daniel, 24, has been missing since June 23. He was last seen leaving his worksite in Buckeye, Arizona, driving a blue/grey 2017 Jeep Renegade.

Daniel is a geologist. His car was discovered by a rancher on July 19, about three miles from Robinson’s workplace, with “significant damage,” according to Buckeye police. Daniel’s clothes, cellphone, wallet, and keys were found at the scene, but foul play was not suspected, given the state of the car.

David Robinson’s private investigator, Jeff McGrath, told NBC News-12 in Phoenix, Arizona, the scene “looked like a staged event. After the airbags came out, somebody turned that ignition over at least 46 more times,” he said. “There’s an additional 11 miles on the car so that tells me the car was driven around after the crash.” 

Daniel’s father has been fighting for more to be done to help find his missing son, and he’s placing the blame on local police and the media. 

Robinson told CNN that although he has empathy for Petito’s family, he wishes his son had as much national attention. “You wish you lived in a world where everything was equal, but it’s really not equal,” he said.

In an online petition, Robinson wrote:

Whether it’s a lack of resources or interest (aka, racism), the reality is that 40% of people reported missing in 2020 (543,018) were people of color, according to the National Crime Information Center Missing Person and Unidentified Person statistics. 

The number of missing Black children is staggering. According to CNN.com, about 14% of U.S. children are Black, but Black kids make up about 37% of missing child cases. In 2020, 100,000 Black women and girls went missing, according to NPR. As for Native American women and children, resources are so lacking that we don’t have accurate numbers for how many are missing or murdered each year. Just in the area Gabby Petito’s remains were recovered, more than 700 Indigenous women have been reported missing. It’s an unchecked epidemic.

“When it comes to our Black and brown communities, and when it comes to children, they are oftentimes classified as runaways. Runaways are not receiving an AMBER Alert. There’s no sense of urgency to find the missing,” Derrica Wilson tells CBS station WUSA-9, in Washington D.C. Wilson is CEO of the Black and Missing Foundation, an organization that documents and brings awareness to missing Black people.

“When it comes to adults, men, and women who are Black and brown, their disappearance is often associated with some kind of criminal activity.”

YouTube Video

Derrica Wilson, CEO of the Black and Missing Foundation

Robinson, who lives in South Carolina, wrote in his petition that he intends to stay in Arizona “until we have answers and bring Daniel home safely.”

Anyone with information relating to Robinson is urged to call Buckeye PD at 623-349-6400.