Grandmother Of Missing Arizona Girl Says Graddaughter's Disappearance Hasn't Been Made A Priority Because She's Black

Your Black World reports.

A grandmother in Arizona says that the reason her grandchild hasn't gotten attention for her disappearance is because she is African American.  The girl has been missing for a week, and she has been begging the media to cover her child's disappearance.  Jahessye Shockley was last seen on October 11 and disappeared while her mother was out running an errand.

Police believe that the girl left the house through the front door, but have no suspects in her disappearance.  They've utilized more than 100 officers for the search and checked a 3-mile radius around the girl's house.  This has produced almost nothing.

Shirley Johnson, the girl's grandmother, went to the state capitol this week to bring attention to her grand child's disappearance. 

“The Glendale Police Department has not brought this to the forefront. They botched this investigation,” Johnson told reporters. “I believe it’s because she’s a little black girl.”

Glendale Police Sgt. Brent Coombs doesn't agree with the grandmother's assessment of the situation:

“What matters is there’s a 5-year-old girl missing,” he said. “It’s the department’s No. 1 priority. There’s so much mystery around it and we’ve got an obligation to get to the bottom of it and try our best to bring her back safely or find out where she’s at.”

The department is offering a $10,000 reward for information regarding the child's whereabouts.  The family is offering an additional $5,000 and another $1,000 is being offered by the Arizona witness tip line.

“It’s still as important as it was the first day that we were working the case,” Coombs said. “We’re never going to stop.”