UK-based advocacy group, ForBlackWomenUK, has raised concerns over a troubling pattern involving missing Black women later discovered dead across the UK.
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, the group highlighted five cases involving four Nigerian women and one Kenyan whose disappearances ended with their bodies being found in rivers, lakes or offshore waters.
The victims were identified as Blessing Olusegun, Kayon Williams, Taiwo Balogun, Samaria Ayanle and Edna Mmbali Ombakho. The organisation said the cases showed that missing Black women often receive less media attention, public awareness and support.
“Each woman had a life, a family and people who loved them,” the group stated. “Every disappearance deserves urgency, visibility and thorough investigation.”
According to the group, Ms Olusegun, 21, a student and care worker from South London, disappeared in September 2020 while on a work placement in Bexhill-on-Sea.
Her body was discovered on the beach later, and an autopsy report concluded that she drowned, with police saying there was no evidence of third-party involvement.
Ms Williams, 24, a fashion blogger, was reported missing after leaving a night out in London in July 2022. Her body was discovered in the Thames River four days later.
Authorities said there was no suspicion of her death, but her disappearance sparked criticism about what several people described as limited media coverage while she was missing.
Ms Balogun, 53, went missing in London in December 2022 and was found dead 29 days later in a lake near Bluewater Shopping Centre.
Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious.
The group also mentioned the death of a 19-year-old student, Samaria Ayanle, studying Japanese and History of Art at SOAS University of London. She was last seen on February 22, 2024, and was reported missing after university staff alerted police weeks later.
Her body was discovered five days after the report.
In 2026, Ms Ombakho, 31, a Kenyan and Master’s student at York St John University, was reported missing on February 1, after going for a walk. Her body was found on March 9 following weeks of search efforts by family, friends and members of the community.
While authorities said several of the deaths were non-suspicious, the organisation said the frequency of similar cases had prompted questions among community members.
“There has been speculation online about whether someone could be targeting Black people, particularly Black women, and disposing of bodies in water,” the group said. “Black women deserve protection. Black women deserve urgency. Black women deserve to be found.”
It also called for greater transparency in investigations, equal media coverage for missing persons cases and stronger mental health support for Black women.
