Mysterious disappearance of LI teen is capturing headlines; experts offer some clues as to why

Thomas Medlin has been missing from Long Island for more than a month.

Surveillance video recorded the 15-year-old St. James teen on the Manhattan Bridge in New York City at 7:06 p.m. on Jan. 9. He has not been seen since. 

By the time Suffolk police issued the latest update in the case more than two weeks ago, Medlin's disappearance had already ignited a familiar surge of attention, such as Facebook shares multiplying by the hour, amateur sleuths dissecting clues and strangers scanning neighborhoods.

As with the case of Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito, the Long Island native whose 2021 disappearance became a global media event, Medlin's story reveals how social media algorithms, compelling narratives and public identification can propel certain cases into the spotlight, even as thousands of other missing teens — disproportionately poor, Black, or from unstable homes — receive scant coverage at all, experts say.

"I think social media and digital platforms have magnified it (the imbalance in coverage)," Fernanda Camarena, a faculty member at the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit journalism advocacy organization, said in an email. "Web algorithms with constant updates, the explosion of true-crime podcasts and even entire TV channels covering this topic have sort of normalized how cases involving white women tend to be elevated."

In Medlin's case, it is his mother who is also leading the push for the media to cover his disappearance, while pleading for his return on social media. She’s still scouring lower Manhattan, searching for him. Medlin — an outstanding student who excels at tennis and piano — is still out there, she says, and she wants to bring him home.

"Every day is a struggle," Eva Yan admits, "but I have to be strong, to find my boy."

Coverage in national media outlets 

Her persistence has paid off: Medlin's case has been covered by media outlets across the nation, including USA Today, People magazine, CBS News and Fox News. His story has even been featured in the Hindustan Times, one of India’s largest English-language daily newspapers.

His disappearance has inspired countless posts on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, X and other social media outlets, not only from family and friends, but also by thousands of strangers and amateur sleuths as well. Hundreds of people have fanned out across lower Manhattan since his disappearance, handing out fliers and hanging posters seeking information about his whereabouts.

Wealth may also play a role, some experts say. Medlin comes from an affluent family — he is a student at The Stony Brook School, the private institution that charges up to $70,000 a year for room and board.

"If you are wealthy, you’re seen as more valuable," said Jason Samuels, a professor at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and an Emmy-winning news producer. "It’s also seen as out of the ordinary. Why would a wealthy person go missing? Whereas if you are poor and Black or brown, it’s kind of assumed your life is complicated. You may have run away from home, you may be involved in some sort of illegal or criminal activity. So, it’s less sensational."

The scrutiny of his disappearance may also be driven by growing anxiety about social media, which has been linked to mental health issues in kids and exposes children to cyberbullying and grooming by sexual predators, some say.

Yan and other family members originally believed Medlin  had traveled from Long Island to Manhattan to visit with someone he met on Roblox, the online gaming platform. Suffolk police announced on Jan. 28 that Medlin's disappearance was not linked to Roblox or other social media, but by that time, the theory had been repeated in press accounts and on social media.

"It is very possible that aspect [concerns social media and children] is part of why this story has gotten so much attention," said John Bischoff III of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, whose organization is assisting in the search. "We wish we could have this kind of media attention on all our missing child cases." 

Reporters rely heavily on information from police and other official sources, particularly in the early hours of a disappearance, Poynter's Camarena sa id. Media coverage reflects the attention and resources a case may receive from law enforcement.

"When authorities invest more time and send more updates to one case, there is simply more material flowing to newsrooms, and that naturally drives coverage," said Camarena, an award-winning journalist.

"Ethically, this is where newsrooms have to work harder," she added. "Reporters shouldn't just repeat what they're handed. And managers could reflect on how they're covering all of their communities. They would benefit from building sources beyond law enforcement, and then examining which disappearances get less attention and why."

Missing children cases

NCMEC receives 100 to 120 reports a day about missing children, Bischoff said, an overwhelming number for media outlets — especially at a time when newsrooms are bleeding personnel and resources.

"The media has to be careful," Samuels said. "They can’t chase every person who goes missing, because they may turn up two days later with their boyfriend in Las Vegas."

But the most significant factors determining if missing person cases get media attention and social media posts are class and race: News organizations have historically prioritized stories about missing affluent white women like Petito and Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teenager who disappeared in 2005 in Aruba, over other people. The bias in coverage prompted veteran journalist Gwen Ifill to coin the phrase "missing white woman syndrome."

"Disparities in missing persons coverage stem from long-standing biases in how cases are framed and valued," the Black and Missing Foundation, a Maryland organization on missing Black people and disparities in media and law enforcement responses to missing people, said in a statement to Newsday.

NYU’s Samuels said he doesn’t believe news directors and editors are explicitly ignoring Black, brown and Indigenous missing person cases. But they do have an "unconscious bias," he said, prioritizing missing whites because they believe their audiences find them more sympathetic.

Videos and photos of attractive women draw more website clicks and social media shares, Samuels said, than images of someone who looks disheveled. News websites collect data that shows missing women like Petito, with her girl-next-door looks, draw readers and viewers.

"They know they are going to get a thousand more views than if they put out an article about a homeless man who is missing," Samuels said. "So there is no question that economics is at play. You can blame the editors, you can blame the audience."

There’s plenty of blame to go around, but the Black and Missing Foundation said it’s unfair to minority communities.

"When media coverage is limited and law-enforcement resources are constrained, community engagement suffers," it said in its statement. "Fewer people are looking, sharing information, or providing tips. That lost time can mean a person remains missing longer or is never found at all."

The role of newsrooms

Newsrooms should address the issue by explaining why some cases get covered while others do not, said Poynter's Camarena. 

"Newsrooms should be transparent with their audiences about what they know and don't know, and the journalistic purpose for covering the story," Camarena said. "For example, newsrooms can say, 'This case is receiving extensive coverage because of X, Y, and Z.' Transparency is everything and can go a long way."

Media attention or not, Yan continues to look for her son, whose last cellphone activity occurred on Jan. 9 at 7:06 p.m. when a nearby surveillance camera captured a splash in the water a minute later. Medlin was not recorded on video leaving the bridge, the police said.

Medlin's mother said she believes his disappearance has gotten more attention than most cases because her son — an intellectually advanced young man, a black-diamond skier, dirt-bike rider, snowmobile rider — has touched so many people.

"It’s just positive energy surrounding him and our family," she said. "I’ve had so many people reach out."