Last week, American McGee went public with news of his sister’s disappearance. According to McGee, his sister was last seen being dropped off at her home in November, but he had not heard from her since. Since the Dallas Police Department was hesitant to put any resources forward, McGee turned to social media for aid.
“They’ve told Mercy’s mother, ‘Go look for her on your own.'”
-American McGee, via Facebook
Since then, McGee’s Facebook has flooded with support – particularly by Gamergate members. Unfortunately, the local police have only responded poorly to the increased attention. According to McGee, the police believe that Mercy ran off on her own, and that there is no reason for further investigation – despite 30 days of absence, death threats which included personal information, and suspicious evidence found at her home.
“All of her bedding was removed from the bed and taken away. It’s vanished. It’s suspected someone took it to hide something. A suspicious SMS was also sent from Mercy’s cell phone to her mother – apparently someone pretending to be Mercy.”
-American McGee, Facebook
According to American McGee, the person who sent the death threats to him has had a strong history of being an anti-Gamergate subscriber, and while the connection between the threats and disappearance are not clear, it is clear that this is the first threat made to him that mentioned his sister by name. McGee has also made it clear that he does not wish to make this a political situation. He cares little for the anti-Gamergate or Gamergate situation, and wishes only for his sister’s return. His mentions of either side of the Gamergate debate are – as he states – to make the search “easier” for those looking for her. He also wishes that the Dallas PD would take Mercy’s disappearance more seriously.
As of today (December 7th, 2015), Mercy is still missing. McGee made the following post on his Facebook page:
To everyone who has helped spread awareness about the disappearance of Mercy Covington, I want to say, Thank You. You’re…
Posted by American McGee on Sunday, December 6, 2015
In this post, McGee states that the Dallas Police Department has finally increased its efforts in investigating the case of Mercy’s disappearance, and it also lists his letter to begin a vetting process toward hiring a P.I. agency. In an earlier post he also mentioned that he started a Facebook page dedicated to Mercy’s disappearance which can be found here.
While the situation itself has not developed much, and McGee is holding plenty of information close to his chest for the sake of his sister’s safety, Gamergate has heard the message. According to /r/KotakuinAction, Gamergate members have launched an effort to get this news into the press. In the thread, pro-Gamergate moderators have made it their goal to get Mercy home safe. Among their current goals are:
- Get the press aware of the situation, and that nothing is being done about it
- Get the Department of Justice involved with the officers not doing their job
- Keep using the #findmercy hashtag to get it trending
- Keep pressuring the DPD and the Dallas FBI
The thread also lists various contact informations for news groups, law enforcement agencies, and others.
On the surface, Gamergate certainly seems to be living up to their pledge of breaking down the biases of the media – which certainly seems to be the case here, as I am one of the few reporters who are fully covering this story. Many sites that have been known to focus on the Gamergate controversy have made no mention of this case, of anti-Gamergate or its alleged actions, which could be seen as a direct bias of these groups. Meanwhile anti-Gamergate has continued to harass McGee on Facebook through the comments, claiming this has been fabricated.
The situation is certainly looking bleak, and I hope that McGee’s sister can return home in one piece. We can only hope that the passing days will reveal more information as to Mercy’s whereabouts. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for future updates, as I will continue to follow this story every week as it progresses.
