News

I mean, it also helps that it seems to be an international, targeted hit on a woman trying to leave her husband in a nasty divorce with a lot of money at stake.

This isn't just some chick went missing on holiday, but wait she's hot, rich, and probably connected so everyone pay attention because a real person was hurt.

I'm not disagreeing that beauty and wealth are bringing this additional attention, but this is also far more targeted than a sex/violence crime of opportunity.

Also, if every time a woman was targeted by an ex made headlines, it's all we would literally ever hear about, anywhere, always.

Family annihilation is often initiated by men, and if it's a woman killing herself and her kids, there's a good chance her partner was abusive.

Saying this as a man before any neck beards start angrily sweating about anti-male agendas (not trying to suggest the person I'm replying to is doing that atm).

Is suffering supposed to be a contest?

It's ~tangable~ tangible because there's a face associated with the story and doesn't happen nearly as often. The other example you provided would be in the news everyday. Its like if your tires were slashed this morning but you decided to tell your coworkers about how you spilled some coffee on the counter.

Empathizing with individuals is built into how the human brain works, because we can theoretically do something about the plight of a single person - at least, this was true in an age before mass communication, when our world was only as large as the people we interacted with. It was mutually beneficial for humans to develop an instinct to help those in their own social group, because it was more likely to result in one's own DNA being passed on.

Hearing about the problems of large numbers of people doesn't click the same way for us because, for the majority of human history, it didn't affect one's ability to further one's genes. Aiding some random person from a distant tribe just doesn't figure into an individual's reproductive fitness. We don't have an instinct to help people we don't know, especially when they don't have a name and a face. And so it's not ingrained in us. It has to be taught.

Death of a man is a tragedy, death of a million is a statistic

It's easier to hope someone will have information on an individual who's is reported on. Someone might see the article and realise they saw her in a coffee shop with a man, looking very uneasy. And tip off police.

Whereas homelessness is a much harder thing to tackle. That requires government intervention rather than individual intervention from someone who saw something suspicious. And getting a government to care about homeless people is a huge ask.
I hate that we have a homelessness issue, and I hate that it's not reported on much at all. Things should be in the public eye, in hopes that people wrote to their local rep to try get help.

But it's more likely you'll find a missing person (dead or alive) by posting an article than it is likely you'll resolve homelessness.

If the classic RTS Red Alert taught me anything it’s that Stalin quote “when you kill one person, it’s a tragedy. You kill a million, it’s a statistic.”

Of course I’m sure he didn’t actually say that but it’s fun to pretend

The news publishes what makes them money. People find mysterious disappearances more interesting and engaging than tent cities.

The article all but says the husband is the suspect here. Reading between the lines it's heavily implied that he's directly involved in her disappearance.

It's easier to personally connect with a single good looking person over 'statistics'. Someone thousands of miles away hasn't somehow infringed on your life or city or whatever people use to dehumanize hobos.

I'm guessing Madrid

From the article:

David Knezevic’s current whereabouts are unknown.

Henao told the detective he believes his brother-in-law traveled to his home country of Serbia in January.