the smedley log - suburban scrawl

Missing the story

I was quoted in a Wired piece that just started running this morning, and now it seems a bunch of you are seeing this blog for the first time. Though I’m not exactly sure what you’re seeking, I wanted to synopsize some other hits throughout the Philly blogging community that offer some really useful background on the Latoyia Figueroa case that was part of the focus of the Wired article.

• One blogger who was duly noted in the Wired article is Richard at All Spin Zone, who really got the ball rolling. If you didn’t check out his link already here it is again.
• The first place where Richard’s sentiments were echoed (and loudly) was at Philly Future, where it was bound to have access to thousands of peering eyes each day, and exposure is hopefully the key in this case. Click here to see the discussion that’s been started about the prospect a blog network to highlight as many missing persons as possible. (And if you happen to have the expertise or connections to bring this closer to reality, please feel free to add your two cents to the conversation.)
• And Tattered Coat offered some coherent ideas for those looking to get involved in raising awareness of Latoyia with this well-crafted post, in which he offered an easy-to-copy image option for those wanting to run Latoyia sidebar banners on their websites without Blogads.

If you followed the Wired link to this page, you may want some more background on Latoyia’s situation. Hopefully this gives some of you a bit more of a trail to follow, should you choose to…

tsl link

Hey, quoted in Wired. If only the circumstances were a little different, it would be a cause for celebration.

Very true. It’s a strange sensation (to me) to answer questions from someone you know is writing a story that will be widely read. It’s even stranger when the story is about a situation where, if things went as they should, there’d be no story.

Such an event really has no marketing value, nor should it—but if the story’s going to get told, and if it’s going to drive extra traffic this way, the least I could do is point people in the direction of the most useful information, I hope…

Sad news on Latoyia Figueroa

I first saw the reports at Philly Future, which led me to All Spin Zone, which led me to the confirmation of the sad news that her body was found this morning just outside Philadelphia. I can never read a story like this without wondering why.

Amen….