Disturbing true stories that inspired Lifetime’s Abducted at an HBCU as U.S. missing women cases rise to surprisingly high levels

A NEW Lifetime movie is shedding light on the tragic stories of Black women who went missing in college.

Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Story follows the harrowing story of a student who spent her days struggling to pay for school, but suddenly disappears.

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The only person who notices the disappearance of the student, Shannon, is her counselor, Ellen.

Throughout the film, Ellen tries her best to raise awareness about Shannon’s disappearance, but no one seems to care.

Despite others’ lack of interest, Ellen persists in her quest to find Shannon until she makes a horrific discovery: Shannon has been kidnapped by a human trafficking ring targeting young black women.

Although the case may seem too terrible to be true, it definitely is.

Black women only make up about seven percent of the United States population, but in 2021, they accounted for 35% of all missing persons cases involving women and children, according to the National Crime Information Center.

More than 97,000 cases of missing Black women were reported in 2021, according to Spectrum 1 News.

Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Story, a sequel to Lifetime’s first film Black Girl Missing, hopes to shine a light on the growing epidemic of missing Black women.

“When black girls go missing, sometimes the media coverage and national attention doesn’t match up in the same way it does when a white girl goes missing,” the film’s star Naturi Naughton told the NBC affiliate. WJTV.

Although the film’s case is fictional, it is based on hundreds of true stories of missing people.

JEFFREY LYNN SMITH

Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Lynn Smith was last seen in Arkansas walking home with her boyfriend on December 4, 1985.

“The pain I feel when I think about her is still acute,” Smith’s sister Lisa said. BET.

“My mother reported her missing the next day. It wasn’t like her not to come home.”

When Lisa and her family first reported Lynn missing, police classified it as a runaway case, which did not require search parties or press conferences.

Police initially questioned Smith’s boyfriend but never named a suspect.

Smith’s only published missing person notice was the one his family ran in the local newspaper, offering a $1,000 reward for information.

She was never found.

FEDRA WALKER

More recently, in 2023, Los Angeles resident Phedra Walker disappeared without a trace after undergoing surgery.

Walker left all of his belongings behind, including his phone.

Walker’s aunt, Marlena Walker, filed a police report after not hearing from her niece, but received no further assistance.

“I wish someone would come here and ask me questions,” Marlena told Spectrum 1 News.

“They didn’t even ask for a photo.”

That September, two months after she first disappeared, Phedra’s remains were found, by Our black girls.

Police did not confirm to the family that it was Phedra until December.

The cause of death remains undetermined, according to The East.

“There were no stab wounds or gunshot wounds,” Marlena said.

“The coroner said they have nothing to work with,” she continued.

“She was, like, just bones.”

“We disappear and it seems like no one cares, right? Be it the media or the police. And I feel like we need to change that,” said Garcelle Beauvais, star of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and executive producer of Black Girl Missing.

“We can nominate Gabby Petito, Natalee Holloway.

“You know, we can name a lot of white girls, and I’m not saying their stories aren’t important, but we just need to be equally important and be seen and heard.”

Abducted from an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Story premieres on Lifetime on July 20.