Plainfield missing-woman case becomes a cause

May 21, 2007
Special to the Daily Southtown

Several days after Lisa Stebic disappeared, her story made national headlines.

Seemingly vanishing without a trace, she last was seen at her Plainfield home on April 30.

Eventually, news of the search for Lisa went international, with help from a highly-publicized family Web site.

The attention largely was the result of a campaign that began soon after Lisa was reported missing. Her cousin Melanie Greenberg got the ball rolling with help from a friend in the news industry.

Leigh Harris, a former television producer in Phoenix immediately set to work creating a plan to get Lisa's face and information in front of cameras and on the front pages of newspapers.

Harris had Greenberg set up the site www.FndLisaStebic.com, which Harris ensured used colors and a layout that would photograph well. She also told the family to hold a news conference, gave them scripts to speak from and tips to maximize their time on camera.

It worked.

Every television news crew in Chicago and print and radio reporters showed up for the family's news conference, held near the Stebics' house.

"I could never have done any of this without her," Greenberg said. "Everybody else was frozen and paralyzed. She was like the cavalry coming in, saying, 'This is what you have to do.' "

Greenberg and her husband, Mark, Lisa's first cousin, have become the family's spokesmen and have appeared on many national and local news programs.

A missing person's family has a lot to do with the level of media attention the case receives. Missing people such as Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old from Alabama who disappeared in 2005 in Aruba, and Laci Peterson, a pregnant California woman who disappeared in 2002 and whose husband later was convicted of her murder, became household names in part because family members were willing to speak out about their disappearances, Harris said.

"It is a family member who opens their heart to the public, through the national media," she said. "That's really the key."

While it plays a significant role, family involvement may not be the only key.

As of Jan. 31, there were 2,960 active missing-person cases in Illinois, of which 1,798 are children, said Kelly Bennett, a case manager for the National Center for Missing Adults. Nationally, there are more than 50,000 missing adults listed in the National Crime Information Center database.

A person's gender, race and socioeconomic status also are factors in the level of attention his or her case receives. Missing men, for example, don't receive a lot of camera time, Bennett said.

"A lot of the cases that are seen on TV are the ones that are a pretty girl. Not too many that are of males," she said.

Missing adults, she said, are an epidemic.

"We get 150 to 200 calls a week for missing adults, if not more. And that's only the people that know about us," Bennett said. "It happens all the time, and people do not see it because it's not media-worthy."

For example, Scott Arcaro, of Lisle, would've celebrated his 38th birthday on Friday. He was reported missing Feb. 27 by his fiancee. John Spira, 46, of St. Charles, disappeared Feb. 23. He was last seen by employees at his construction company. Bradley Olsen, 26, of Maple Park, has been missing since Jan. 19. His cell phone and bank account remain untouched, and a massive ground search by 140 people in February yielded no clues.

The men's friends and families say it's out of character for them to leave without telling anyone. Their cases have been covered by local news outlets but have not received anywhere near the coverage that Lisa Stebic's case has received.

On Saturday, Spira's family and friends organized a search in West Chicago. The group plans to post a video of the event on YouTube.com. Scott Arcaro's twin sister, Sherri, joined the search to help look for Spira and raise awareness of Scott's case. Olsen's family also planned to attend.

"You feel so alone when you hear about (a missing family member)," Arcaro said. "There are a lot of transient males. That's the assumption. A male, he's got his credit cards and could just leave. (Missing) women and children get priority."

Missing children are an obvious news story. Missing adults are harder to figure out.

"I think any time you have a missing person, it is a very difficult circumstance," said Paula Simpson, a producer for "America's Most Wanted."

"A missing adult can leave under their own volition at any time. It's hard to sift through who is a Chandra Levy and a Laci Peterson and who is a person who wants to escape their life."

Lisa Stebic's case likely touches people because she's described as a devoted mother who would never leave her children, Simpson said.

Even if the story is compelling, it takes constant work to attract and hold the public's attention.

"It's definitely an uphill battle, and the family of Lisa and the Stebic family is doing a very good job of keeping it in the thoughts and minds of both the media and the public," Simpson said.

Private investigator Thomas Lauth, who is recommended by the National Center for Missing Adults, has 20 years of experience searching for missing people. He echoed the opinion that race, gender and socioeconomic status influence media coverage.

"Typically in the media you'll see the higher-profile cases will be Caucasian females, such as the Natalee Holloway case," he said. "You'll see fewer minorities receive higher-profile status. Rarely do you see that."

News coverage can help the search for a missing person, and it can pressure police to stay on the case.

"It's just unfortunate that there are so many families out there with missing loved ones that just don't get the attention," Lauth said. "How (does Lisa Stebic) compare to Laci Peterson? To me, that's every other adult case out there."

Lisa's family wants to keep her story in the news as long as possible, holding events to help the search and provide an outlet for the community to help.

"Once people are able to bond in a crisis, it allows them to start healing and start making sense of something," Harris said. "It is a circular support system between the community and the family."

The Herald News of Joliet





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