The Cold Vanish

Thought-provoking.

What an interesting topic. I'm reminded of when I first moved to Vancouver - there were so many missing person flyers taped to telephone poles with young men staring out. I was a little freaked out. So many questions around each “cold vanish,” so much wilderness left for people to vanish into it seems - and no real tracking system for them. Bellman mentions the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) of Canada + the US but he doesn't tell their stories like he does the rest of the missing people he profiles. I can't remember whether this was written before or after the report came out, probably before or during. (I also think Billman could have resisted some of his writerliness a little, I'm thinking the use of gerund and the counting coup remark specifically) but overall you really have to feel for the families and searchers of the missing.

Plodding, inconsistent pacing and organization, and some strange informational choices- especially considering Black and Indigenous statistics of folks going missing. Wasn't what I thought it would be. I've been going down a rabbit hole of SAR true crime stuff, which is definitely not usually my speed, and this was much better and easier to parse than Palides' work, but even then, that's not saying much (as Billman himself may agree).
It was alright. I hope everyone who hasn't found their loved ones find peace and joy and closure.