Earlier this week, authorities from the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office asked the public for help in locating a 13-year-old Black girl.
You should know authorities only recently published a missing person’s notice for her. However, the sheriff’s office said she hasn’t been seen for nearly a week.
Cobb County Police say Adrian Gary was last seen on Sunday, Nov. 17 at Grace’s Place, a commercial sexual exploitation recovery center for youth between ages 12 and 17, according to Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health.
According said the child is 5'3 inches, weighs 143 pound, has brown eyes, black hair and glasses. She also has a nose piercing and upper gum piercing.
Adrian was last seen wearing denim bell-bottom pants, a light pink shirt, black shoes and a black coat, according to authorities.
Her disappearance comes on the heels of the national convening held by the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs to address the crisis of missing or murdered Black women and girls.
In 2022, of the 271,493 girls and women reported missing, 97,924 (or over 36 percent) were Black, according to the National Crime Information Center. Meanwhile, Black women and girls accounted for only 14 percent of the U.S. female population at that time.
According to the Department of Justice, some states are moving in the right direction, creating programs to curb the problem.
Several states have initiated programs that could serve as models for broader approaches throughout the nation. For instance, some state governments and law enforcement agencies have established dedicated task forces or units focused on addressing missing women and girls of color. These task forces often work in collaboration with community organizations and advocacy groups to bridge trust gaps, improve case management, inform investigative efforts, and facilitate better communication with affected families.
It’s unclear what were the circumstances surrounding Adrian’s disappearance or who she was last seen with. None of her family members have spoken to the media yet about her disappearance.
Anyone who has seen Adrian or has information about her whereabouts is encouraged to contact Cobb Police Investigator Jon Kramer at 770-499-4761 or at jon.kramer@cobbcounty.org.