,
8 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
charlottesville police reiterated at a press conference this morning that they are STILL looking for erik mcfadden in connection with the disappearance (technically now being investigated as a homicide) of sage smith in november of 2012.
yesterday erik's mother filed a missing person's report. he hasn't been seen since police initially met with him about the case in 2012. his mother says she was not aware he was even missing until 2014 and believed his father had filed a missing persons report.
the lead detective on the case, regine wright, gave a thoughtful statement about the department's choice to use 'sage' rather than 'dashad' and avoid pronouns entirely when possible. this is a fairly nuanced discussion of trans identity for a police department.
she says after speaking with sage's friends & family, "sage loved being a woman, but sage was also comfortable being a man," and at the time of the disappearance was still very much in the process of exploring gender identity.
in the statements read by sage's mother and sister, the family referred to sage as dashad and used male pronouns. the detective says it's unhelpful to fight online about pronouns, saying sage would want us to focus on finding sage.
very little new information was shared at today's press conference. the only development is that erik mcfadden, who has also been missing for nearly 7 years, is now formally considered missing.
there is a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in sage's case.
there is a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in sage's case.
erik mcfadden had plans to meet with sage smith on the evening of her disappearance in november of 2012. he’s been a person of interest in the case for years. it’s unclear why more hasn’t been done to find him. 
black trans women are murdered at a terrifying rate. the disparity of efforts made to find the person responsible for sage’s disappearance and the efforts expended to find cis white women like hannah graham, who disappeared from the same area two years later, is sickening.
