Missing in Chicago

About the Project

“Missing in Chicago” is a seven-part investigative series by City Bureau and the Invisible Institute that exposes systemic patterns of mismanagement in Chicago police’s handling of missing person cases, which have disproportionately affected Black women and girls. Published in November 2023 with the Chicago Reader, South Side Weekly and The TRiiBE, this investigation has been key to informing local and state initiatives as elected officials work to address Chicago’s missing persons crisis.

The deep reporting in “Missing in Chicago” has not only gained the attention of lawmakers looking for solutions but also shines a light on how poor data collection by police doesn’t reflect the reality of what happens when Black women and girls go missing in Chicago.

In fact, the two-year investigation reveals that in the third-largest city in the country:

• Police officers routinely violate state law in denying family members the ability to file a report or asking them to wait days before reporting their loved one missing.
• Detectives neglect investigations and stigmatize the loved ones of missing persons, with many Black families reporting racial bias in their treatment by the Chicago Police Department.
• The Chicago Police Department’s inadequate record-keeping practices led reporters to discover several instances where the data indicates incidents are non-criminal in nature, despite a homicide investigation being initiated in connection to a case. An analysis found that 40% of records are missing critical data points that prevent linkage to other types of data because reports are still kept on paper.
• Detectives closed multiple cases prematurely while people were still missing, including the cases of two teenage girls who were later found murdered.

“Missing in Chicago” is a collaborative multimedia investigation that deeply considers several aspects of the missing persons crisis, including failures in state law, police misconduct and negligence, the impact on families and potential solutions. Reporters Sarah Conway and Trina Reynolds-Tyler started with 54 police complaint records, identified through machine learning, and substantiated nearly all allegation types. This investigation is a feat in local accountability journalism, bringing awareness to the widespread trauma and lack of closure associated with Chicago’s missing person cases.

Judges Comments

This project exemplifies both social justice reporting and how vital local journalism is to a community. Building from the trust they have gained with their neighbors, the reporters bring excellent reporting techniques and storytelling to illuminate a horrific reality for local mothers. The reporters are willing to state plainly the crux of the issue, something too few reporting efforts do: The missing persons issue is a Black people issue. The sheer breadth of files analyzed and the early, smart use of AI to support that process makes this stand out. The reporters’ approach moved impacted families from victims to stewards of shaping public dialogue and policy on the intersections of policing, community neglect and gender-based violence.