DURHAM, N.H. –What began as a research assignment on one missing 6-year-old girl has developed into a public database documenting 186 cases of missing and murdered Black women and girls in Washington, D.C.
Deadlining, the research project of Avery Bernard Johns, a junior at Howard University, was presented Thursday Oct. 1 at the University of New Hampshire during the Justice Studies Fall 2026 Colloquium. Johns' presentation, which took place in Theater 1 of the Memorial Union Building, examined the relationship between historical redlining practices, transportation infrastructure development, and neighborhood development to patterns of violence and disappearances among Black women and girls.
Johns is a history and sociology double major with minors in data science and criminology. After realizing there were few existing records of missing and murdered Black women and girls in Washington, D.C., Johns developed Deadlining.
The project started in Johns' freshman year at Howard University when she was tasked with writing a research paper on Black history after 1877. When researching the disappearance of Hattie Yvonne Jackson, a 6-year-old girl who vanished in 1961, Johns found it difficult to locate information about the case. Most of the information she located came from archival newspapers at Howard University instead of law enforcement records.
Johns stated that researching Jackson's case made her wonder how many other cases would be equally challenging to research. Before Johns could start investigating why these disappearances happened, she first had to determine which cases existed and where their records could be located.
“If the dataset didn't exist, I needed to answer that question,” Johns said. “And I realized I was going to have to build it myself.”
That realization resulted in the development of Deadlining, a publicly available database documenting missing and murdered Black women and girls in Washington, D.C., from 1961 through 2025.
Johns reported that her initial search through a federal database of missing persons yielded only 37 cases matching her criteria. Following collection of data from additional law enforcement records, newspaper archives and community organizations, Johns was able to expand Deadlining to include 186 documented cases.
To build Deadlining, Johns had to identify cases, confirm information across multiple sources and identify geographic locations, sometimes utilizing incomplete or out-of-date addresses.Additionally, Johns developed software to assist in organizing and geographically coding the information.
However, Johns has emphasized that Deadlining represents much more than a compilation of individual cases. The project uses spatial analysis to evaluate how historical decisions regarding housing, infrastructure and neighborhood development might correlate with where disappearances and homicides occur.
Johns gave Deadlining its name based upon redlining, a discriminatory practice used historically to limit investment and access to housing in designated neighborhoods, specifically those populated predominantly by people of color. Through comparison of case locations with historical redlining maps, census information, highway systems and gentrification trends, Johns anticipates being able to better comprehend the environmental and structural elements contributing to victimization.
Among Johns' discoveries included the proximity of cases to major transportation routes. According to Johns, 70.5% of cases involving individuals under 21 years old in her study occurred within two kilometers of a major highway. Johns also observed groupings of cases in southeastern Washington, D.C., and evaluated how these groupings aligned with historically Black neighborhoods and areas impacted by urban development. Johns cautioned against interpreting these geographical correlations as indicative of transportation infrastructure, race or poverty causing victimization.
“These findings identify spatial patterns,” Johns said. “They do not establish alone that transportation infrastructure causes victimization.”
Instead, Johns indicated that these findings provide a foundation for additional research into the circumstances that may contribute to vulnerability.
Throughout her presentation, Johns repeatedly stressed the necessity of transitioning focus from the offenders to victims. Johns explored victim precipitation theory, which evaluates how a victim's actions may lead to an event.
Johns questioned approaches that assign excessive responsibility to victims rather than evaluating broader structural issues. Johns used the example of children running away from home, indicating that some may be fleeing abusive environments, unstable family life or dangerous living conditions. While these children are categorized primarily as runaways, Johns indicates that their circumstances and potential vulnerability to exploitation may not receive sufficient attention.
Additionally, Johns' research revealed obstacles related to obtaining historical case records. Johns detailed difficulties obtaining requested information from the Metropolitan Police Department and subsequently discovered that several older case records had been discarded altogether.
Johns has since worked with the department's Victim Services Division, and has acquired additional insights into the challenges associated with accessing and organizing investigative information.
Attendees questioned Johns, regarding potential uses for Deadlining's functionality, technologies used to create its maps and whether Johns intended to expand Deadlining beyond Washington, D.C.
Johns described utilizing Python programming, geographical data files and historical census information to produce Deadlining's detailed visual representations. Johns noted that she intentionally relied on publicly accessible tools and information to enable her research without requiring costly software applications.
While Johns indicated plans to ultimately expand Deadlining nationally, she stated that her current focus is developing Deadlining's research methodology within Washington, D.C., so that it can be applied to other areas.
Additionally, Johns expressed enthusiasm for Deadlining's potential application to public policy development, urban planning and law enforcement efforts, especially improving the manner in which government entities document cases and identify susceptible communities.
Although Johns' work consists largely of technical components, she consistently returned to recognizing the individuals represented within Deadlining. Johns recalled that her initial inquiry into Jackson's disappearance was driven by a desire to ensure that the young girl would not be forgotten.
What began as an effort to gather knowledge about one missing child ultimately evolved into a project analyzing decades of cases.
Johns concluded her presentation by urging students to recognize that significant research and activism do not necessarily necessitate extensive professional experience or advanced degrees.
Reflecting on creating Deadlining as an 18-year-old undergraduate student, Johns acknowledged that she initially doubted her capacity or resources to make a meaningful difference. Johns' experience shows that even small efforts to preserve information or highlight an overlooked case can evolve into something much bigger.
Deadlining is publicly accessible at deadlining.org
