The Nation’s Fixation on the Search for Gabby

A woman places a decoration near a poster after attending the funeral home viewing of Gabby Petito at Moloney's Funeral Home in Holbrook, N.Y., on Sept. 26, 2021. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP Photo

Commentary

There are hundreds of thousands of people reported missing in the United States each year. Last year there were more than 540,000 reports filed with police. Sounds like a lot, but probably due to our COVID-19 isolation that was a record low number.