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Laci Peterson and Breonna Taylor: A Tale of Two Victims With Unbalanced Scales of Justice
Why the difference between the public outcry and police response for these two women matters.
Laci Denise Peterson, a substitute teacher, was last seen alive on December 24, 2002, in Modesto, California. A nationwide manhunt ensued when she disappeared from her home that eventually led to her own husband, Scott Peterson, who was found responsible for her disappearance and murder. She was eight months pregnant at the time of her death and was only 27-years-old.
News of Laci’s disappearance quickly made national headlines. The entire country was horrified to learn that this beautiful young woman went missing on Christmas Eve, just weeks away from giving birth to her son, Connor.
Americans tuned in to the news each night for the latest updates on the search for Laci. Many citizens in and around the Modesto area who had never met her volunteered to join search parties to find her.
From the moment her step-father reported her missing on December 24, 2002, until the unfortunate and gruesome discovery of the bodies of her and her son at Point Isabel Regional Shoreline on April 14, 2003, there was constant police activity, round the clock media coverage…