By Kendria Brown, NDG Intern
The missing cases for African-Americans are rampant and even higher for African-American men. In an effort to resolve this issue, NewsOne has partnered with the Black and Missing Foundation and TV One to provide the media coverage needed to try and bring these cases to a close.
But that is not all.
Tyler Perry is now offering a $100K reward for information pertaining to a Naples, Fl. Missing case involving two minority men. Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos were last seen with a sheriff’s deputy almost one decade ago. Each was with Cpl. Steven Calkins of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office on separate occasions before they went missing.
“This is injustice,” said Perry, who held hands with Williams’ mother throughout the news conference that was also attended by the Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network and Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP.
“I don’t think this is about race or social status as much as it is about, no matter who we are, we should be outraged that this is happening in America in 2013,” Perry stated.
It has been a few years since Perry first brought these cases to media attention.
The officer the men were last seen with, Calkins, was fired from the Sheriff’s office in 2004, the same year year the two men were discovered to be missing.
Although Calkins stated he dropped both men off, there appears to be great discrepancies with his story. To explain the inconsistencies in Calkins’ story, he claimed, “Coincidence extreme and that’s all it is. It was just bad luck. It was bad luck … I didn’t think anything of it.”
Calkins has never been charged with any crimes related to the two missing men cases.
