I remember seeing a documentary about this phenomenon and it generally explained that so

Many factors combine to make a story accelerate through the news and become almost celebrity (and I mean that in the most kind way) stories. It can be a combination of what else is in the news at the time, the background of the victims, the atmosphere/zeitgeist in the country, even the visual impact that a photo can give. They said, for instance that the photo on the day of those two poor girls wearing their Man Utd shirts in the Ian Huntley/Soham case was “news gold” as it would impact on so many people. Likewise I dare say that with Maddie McCann the main photo used of her was very sweet and also there was an element of the parents being middle class, eloquently spoken and attractive that helped make a story and generate opinion in the public as to the cause of the disappearance.
Like you say, kids and people go missing all of the time. I wonder whether people or the press soon disgard the story if they see the person’s background,circumstances, location etc and think “ah well, there you go,typical, nothing unexpected here….next!”?

Posted By: Augustus Pablo, Jun 13, 07:31:48