In a quiet little seaside town on a crisp and chilly November afternoon, a large group of grave-faced police officers and forensic scientists carry a covered up trolley out of a small back garden.

The grim contents of the trolley are just a small bundle of bones, all that remains left of tragic Essex teenager Dinah Mc Nicol, who lay undiscovered under a patio in that small garden in Margate, Kent for sixteen years. She had not been heard of ever since she was last seen leaving a Hampshire music festival during the summer of 1991.

Her father Ian, broken-hearted by having to live through almost two decades without any news of his beloved daughter, said he felt 'elated' at news of the discovery - a reaction that may seem strange, but one only those who have suffered the torment of a missing child, could comment on. Remarkably, Dinah's was not the only shallow grave in the garden. During the process of looking for her body, police unwittingly came across the remains of another teenager who had disappeared in the same year.

Fifteen year old Vicky Hamilton was last seen eating chips at a bus stop in West Lothian in February 1991. Her family spent sixteen agonising years waiting to hear from her but despite a much publicised media campaign, she was never heard from again until earlier this month when her remains were found buried in a sandpit just yards away from Dinah Mc Nicol. Tragically, Vicky's mother died of what some have described as a broken heart just two years after her disappearance.

But what is so desperately sad about this story - two young girls like these, who had their lives stretched out ahead of them, is that it is similar to so many other cases.

Figures from the Missing People website show that between the ages of 13 and 17, girls are more likely to be reported missing than boys. 71% of 13-17 years olds reported missing in 1999-2000 were female.

Milly Dowler, a bright young schoolgirl who was snatched off the street and out of her happy life in 2002. Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, two innocent ten year olds lured into the home of somebody they trusted, and then murdered. Sarah Payne, the little girl who vanished forever outside her grandparents' home.

Each and every one of these girls made huge headlines at the time of their disappearance. The victims' smiling photographs became familiar to households across the nation and their names were on everybody's lips. They also all shared a connection - they were all from warm and loving, middle-class backgrounds.

The high profile case of missing teenager Danielle Jones in 2001 dominated much of the news that summer. She had been on her way to a bus stop when she disappeared without a trace. Despite no body ever being found, police charged the girl's uncle with her murder a few months later. A few short weeks before Danielle vanished, Kent schoolgirl Hannah Williams failed to return home after a shopping trip. Hannah, who was fourteen and from a single parent family with a working class background had previously spent some time in care and had a history of running away. After she disappeared, her mother tried desperately to get the national media interested in the case, but aside from a handful of reports in the local paper, the tabloids barely mentioned Hannah's disappearance.

When the girl's body was found a year later, it was mentioned briefly in the national newspapers only because police thought at first that they had found Danielle Jones. The locals of Hannah's community were appalled at the lack of media coverage the case received. When asked to comment on it, a police spokesman described Hannah's mother as "not really press conference material."

Why is it that only certain missing people are given such huge press attention, and others are not. Do some matter less than others? Is there a certain criteria that has to be met when it comes to the type of victim the public would be more interested in? While I am not saying by any means whatsoever that the high profile cases do not deserve the magnitude of publicity they receive, I'm simply asking what singles one case out from another?

Jill Walden, press officer for the Derbyshire Police Constabulary says that on many occasions, it is extremely difficult to get the media interested in covering missing person enquiries.

"In the past we've had vulnerable girls who have been missing for some time and failed to get national coverage for them. I think sometimes, editors just simply cannot cope with the volume of appeals they receive."

A prime example of a case that has gained a vast amount of media attention, not just in the UK but all over the world, is this year's disappearance of Madeleine McCann, taken from her bed in the Portuguese resort of Praia Da Luz. Six months after her disappearance, the toddler's story still makes front page news. It could be the fact that the events surrounding her disappearance are such a baffling mystery, that the media still retain such an intense interest in the case. However, it has widely been suggested that the high level of news coverage is to do with the fact that Madeleine is white, pretty and the daughter of two doctors. The truth, who knows?

But while the families of Vicky Hamilton and Dinah Mc Nicol can at long last begin their long awaited and well deserved grieving process for the daughters they lost so many years ago, there remain the thousands of missing young men and women out there who have not been fortunate enough to receive any attention from the media, for whatever reason. So let's take a moment to think of those people, those who may not come from perfect families or who may look adorable, but who are just simply, ordinary children.

Carmella De Lucia