The other day, one of our more inquisitive young editors in the electronic media phoned me to enquire whether an Ashley Flores, who has been missing from home for quite some time, is related to me. While replying that I have no knowledge of the poor teenager, I could not help marvelling at the fact that the girl has still not been found.
You see, several months back I had another journalist contacting me about the same missing girl. The surname connection of course is what instigated both to get in touch. But is it really possible for someone to go missing for this long on such a small island where you are bound to bump into people you know wherever you go on any given day? Apparently, and judging by this particular case, it is.
Although there have been police notices and some media interest in Ashley’s disappearance, I cannot say people have been impressed with the will to find her. There has been no upbeat publicity campaign that could make the missing teenager’s face familiar with the man in the street and, as far as I know, there has been no fully-fledged television programme to bring up her case and that of her loved ones who must miss her terribly.
Compare this case with similar ones we watch with almost monotonous regularity on Italian television. You see posters stuck all over the place, television producers squeezing out the best of their creative juices to bring up investigative documentaries on local, regional and national channels and concentrated police operations that leave no stone unturned in the widespread and lively search for the missing person.
Not here, alas. We simply get hiccups from the authorities, as if it all depends on the memory of some lonely employee trapped in his or her fifties-style office. Lifeless, colourless, one-paragraph press releases are issued sporadically, a routine that is as boring as its anonymous perpetrator. You cannot blame the media for the obvious lack of enthusiasm, given the unimaginative and indifferent attitude of those whose responsibility it is to make sure that our teenagers do not stray into unknown and dangerous environments and, when they unfortunately do, there is an immediate, organised and professional response. The longer it takes the authorities to launch a publicity offensive, the more difficult it becomes to bring it all to a happy ending.
It is a proven statistic that young men and women very often think that leaving home is an attractive proposition. I am sure most of us have been through, if not the experience, at least the temptation. I once did so, on some irrational pretext and walked all the way from Kalkara to Zejtun for no sagacious reason other than the need to be alone and free. That I accepted the offer of a ride back home from an older friend who happened to be cycling in the opposite direction was enough proof of the lack of conviction in my undeclared attempt.
But when it really happens and the days become weeks and the weeks months, the red light is on. It is when the authorities, in coordination with the missing person’s loved ones, have to come in with all the determination and belief that are required under such distressing circumstances.
Sadly, it seems, in Ashley’s case these have not been forthcoming. I would have wanted to hear a lot more about her, to read more about her, to watch a lot more about her and to know a lot more about her.
Compare poor Ashley’s case to that of four-year-old Madeleine McCann who, more than a month ago, was allegedly abducted while
on holiday in Portugal.
For the last four weeks, Mr and Mrs McCann, both of them well-to-do practising doctors, have been tirelessly searching for Madeleine, criss-crossing Europe to make appeals for help. The police in both Portugal and the UK have been towers of strength, even Pope Benedict XVI has chosen to exclusively personalise the campaign to find the girl and the media have joined forces like they have never done before. Even more telling, famous names – from Harry Potter author JK Rowling to football star Wayne Rooney – have donated generously towards creating a huge fund as part of both the campaign and the intended reward for whoever is able to provide information that would happily lead to Madeleine’s return.
Mr and Mrs McCann are midway through a series of trips around Europe to ask for help to find their daughter, having already met the Pope and been to Spain. They flew to Berlin on Wednesday, then Amsterdam and Morocco a few days later to raise the profile of Madeleine’s case. You and I would have done the same for our sons and daughters, given the same funds and support.
What is the secret? Many other boys and girls have gone missing all over the UK and the European mainland, but there has never been such a massive display of solidarity. To stay on the front pages of major newspapers for so long is no mean feat and, while Madeleine and her parents deserve all the support they can get, one is right to ask why it has to be such in just this one case.
Do we still live in a society that considers class and financial means first before it embarks on such momentous campaigns to help find missing persons in Europe and elsewhere? Is this the European Union of opportunities and solidarity we joined, which now dictates to us what to do, when and how to do it, in our free time?
A missing person, of any age, race and colour, is a source of worry and it is heart wrenching for everyone, everywhere. Whether it is Ashley in tiny Malta or Madeleine in Portugal, there should be the readiness and the organised means to launch immediate searches and prompt campaigns. I mean, how can the parents and loved ones of missing children and teenagers all over Italy, Germany and France – let alone Ashley in San Gorg Preca’s Malta – get the Pope to join in their frantic search, something the McCanns seem to have been able to achieve just by being referred to on Sky as “devout Catholics”?
As for Rowland and Rooney, well, it must be a question of contacts, I guess. Very exclusive ones.