Kate Fazioli is a Criminology and Criminal Justice Master's student at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Her research speciality is North American missing persons cases, and she is currently working on her thesis, "Where Ethics and Empathy Intersect: Examining Secondary Victimization in Missing Persons Cases and True Crime Media." Combining observation and interview research methodologies, Fazioli's thesis aims to achieve two goals: highlight the data discrepancies in missing persons cases, and re-center missing persons and their loved ones within their own narratives. Her anticipated research publication date is late 2026 or early 2027.