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Former state Sen. Stephen Bradford steps into the bright, blazing Westlake sun. Wearing a dark gray suit and wrapped in tape, he is pasting a poster next to a lamppost. It says, “Janey Bryan, 23, has been missing in Los Angeles since October 16th.”
The longtime politician shakes his head. Two months is too long for a young black woman to go missing without any progress in solving her case, he said.
“When young black women and children go missing, no resources are dedicated to finding them,” he argued to the Times. “We have to ask ourselves why this is the case.
Former California State Sen. Stephen Bradford joined the search effort Tuesday in the area where Janay Bryan was last seen.
(William Liang/For the Times)
Black youth account for approximately 40% of all missing persons cases in the United States, but only make up 15% of the total youth population in the United States. Recognizing this disparity, Bradford authored legislation in 2023 to create the Ebony Alert System to help law enforcement find missing Black youth between the ages of 12 and 25.
An Ebony Alert was issued for Brian on Nov. 19, noting that she was last seen near the 2000 block of West 8th Street.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said there is still no update on her case several weeks later.
Fed up with the lack of progress, Brian’s family and Bradford teamed up with volunteers from the Black Missing Foundation to organize a community search event in hopes of gathering clues that could lead to her whereabouts. .
On Tuesday, a group of volunteers walked through the area where Brian was last seen, putting up posters, handing out flyers and talking to store owners and passersby.
Jack Bryan-Gooden (left) talks to Kalinda McKenzie (right) and Tyra Jones about the search for his beloved sister as others search the greater Los Angeles area.
(William Liang/For the Times)
“It’s incredibly creepy to be standing where someone last reported seeing my sister,” Jerk Bryan-Gooden said at the start of the search. “It’s nice to be surrounded by community and not feel so alone trying to find answers.”
Brian graduated from Cornell University in 2023 and then returned to his home in eastern Pennsylvania with his mother. Brian gradually cut off all communication with his friends and family, his sister said.
This fall, Brian moved to Los Angeles, where he last communicated with his ex-boyfriend via email in October. Brian Gooden is hopeful that his sister will be found. The two had not spoken for about a year before she disappeared, but she says she misses him very much.
“She was steadfast in her values,” Brian Gooden said. “She faces any difficult situation with confidence and determination.”
Brian Gooden reported his sister missing on November 13th, and the Ebony Alert was issued on November 19th.
Malik Royster holds up a poster of a missing woman during Tuesday’s event.
(William Liang/For the Times)
Bradford added that while law enforcement can immediately issue missing person alerts, “there always seems to be a delay when it comes to people of color, especially African Americans.” The Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment on why it took six days to issue an alert for Brian.
Bradford also pointed to the stark contrast between law enforcement and media responses to the cases of Hannah Kobayashi and Brian, who were also reported missing in Los Angeles in November.
For the record:
December 11, 2024 2:18 pm A previous version of this report incorrectly identified Hanna Kobayashi as Hanna Takanohashi.
Kobayashi’s disappearance received international media coverage. Last week, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell held a press conference to announce that his department had discovered that she had crossed the Mexican border voluntarily.
Kobayashi said, “They disappeared around the same time.” “How can one race reach such a level of national attention that Miss Brian’s case gets so little attention?”
Brian’s case was reported on by KTLA, NBC, and the Times. According to a Google search, more than 100 news articles have been published about Kobayashi since he went missing on November 11th.
Natalie Wilson, co-founder of the Missing Black People Foundation, said media attention can play an important role in solving missing person cases.
“Reporters often contact law enforcement to get an update on a case, but then the story starts to gain traction and we see them contacting the family, conducting interviews and searches. “It became like that,” she said. “That’s why media coverage is so important.”
Grace Lee gets emotional while putting up flyers. A participant at Tuesday’s event said his sister went missing two years ago.
(William Liang/For the Times)
Growing interest in missing person cases was the main reason Bradford pushed to establish the Ebony Alert System.
Since the law was enacted in January in California, 32 alerts have been issued and 27 young black people have been found, Bradford said. States such as Massachusetts and Tennessee are currently considering enacting their own versions of the system.
Still, he said there are many instances in which young black people are eligible for an Ebony Alert but are not issued one. He said missing black youth are often victims of sex trafficking and are classified as juvenile prostitutes.
“They are not listed as abductees, they are listed as fugitives,” he said.
Brian Gooden said he fears his sister has become a victim of sex trafficking. A few weeks ago, someone called the number on Brian’s missing person poster and said they had seen her living with someone they believed to be a pimp in Los Angeles.
“My heart dropped when I heard that,” she said.
But Brian Gooden feels new hope after Tuesday’s community search. She said two store owners recently reported seeing someone matching Brian’s description.
A passerby stops to comfort Jack Bryan-Goodman.
(William Liang/For the Times)
Anyone with information regarding Brian’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Detective Division. Call Avalos at the LAPD Missing Persons Unit at (213) 996-1800 or leave an anonymous tip at (800) 222-8477. The Black and Missing Foundation also has an anonymous tip line on its website.
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