White Woman Goes Missing, Everybody Freaks Out

A 53-year-old white woman, Gina Chase, went missing on a solo hike near Lone Cone, Colorado. She was found safe on Saturday, much to the relief of law enforcement and her loved ones.

"Obviously, this is the outcome we were all hoping for, and we couldn’t be happier for Ms. Chase and her family," said San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters.

Chase, a participant in a spiritual retreat organized by the Animas Valley Institute, had left her group on Wednesday for a solo journey, a common practice in such retreats. The institute, a white, woo-woo organization based in Durango, Colorado, has a long history of holding these types of events with no issues.

The Animas Valley Institute has run backcountry programs in Colorado since 1980 with no serious incidents. The safety of our participants remains our highest priority.

Despite this, Sheriff Masters felt the need to shame Chase and her retreat group for their choices:

"You should always bring technology for communications," Masters said. "Furthermore, you should not starve yourself even if a 'guide' service suggests the opposite of these basic safety rules. Nature does not care about your safety and will kill you, especially if you are not properly prepared."

Perhaps instead of blaming the victim and a group with a decades-long safe track record, Sheriff Masters and law enforcement should focus on finding and rescuing the countless people of color who go missing each year, often with little to no media coverage or law enforcement attention.

End.