This week the authorities in Aruba re-opened the case of Natalee Holloway, the teenager who disappeared there last year. There doesn’t seem to be a week that goes by without some young woman going missing.

Natalee, Laci Peterson, and Lori Hacking, were all young, attractive women who seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth. So was Tamika Huston. But maybe you don’t remember hearing about her, which is not really surprising and is the point of this column.

Huston disappeared from her home in South Carolina in 2004. Her body was finally recovered in August, 2005, after police were led to her by the man now accused of killing her.

Just like all of the other young women, Huston was young, attractive, and had vanished. But there was one major difference. Tamika Huston was black.

Her family tried everything they knew of to keep her name in the public eye while she was missing, and while there was coverage, no media outlet gave it blanket coverage as they did with the other girls.

The trial of her suspected killer, Christopher Hampton, starts this week, and it appears that there will be little or no national media. The only media outlet showing any interest at all is Court TV.

The question is, why? Why not tell her story and report on the trial of the man accused of murdering her? What makes her less special than Natalee, Laci, and Lori? Many believe the answer to that question is the color of her skin.

In the media’s defense, there aren’t enough hours in the day to cover every missing person’s case, and other stories come along and grab the public’s attention. Other than that, to many there doesn’t seem to be an answer.

Whether reporters, editors and producers are biased or decided that readers and viewers wouldn’t care, changes need to be made to show sensitivity to other races. Only time will tell if those in power are willing to make those changes.