The number of crime shows has grown exponentially the last few years because it has become clear that they mesmerize an audience. There were classics such as Matlock and Murder She Wrote, but those were tame in comparison to what we have access to today. The shows that are on tv today are not just about crimes and how they were committed, it is about why they were committed.

Shows like Criminal Minds. As a species, we have become obsessed with watching shows and movies and documentaries of murderous individuals and mysteries.

We all think that this obsession is fine...until it crosses into your social circle. We're fine with these insane actions taking place on a screen, but never expect it to happen in real life. We shy away from homeless people on the streets but are full of anger when they are killed on our Netflix shows.

I can never watch a crime show the same way again because a crime right out of one of these shows we love happened to someone that I worked with. His name was David Gipson Smith. I had barely known him a month when he went missing. He went missing on August 6, 2017. On February 25, 2018 a body was found 100 miles from his last known location. Yesterday, March 23, 2018, his family was notified that the remains found were positively identified as their son.

Like I said, I had only known him a short time. I have one distinct memory of him, asking for his paycheck the week before he went missing. I couldn't tell you what he was wearing. But I followed the Facebook page his mother set up, and I confess to getting myself caught up in her emotions.

This family had been searching for him for nearly a year. His family tried to get the suspicious story shared on as many social media sites and news outlets as possible before this horrible conclusion was reached. The last I heard they were trying to get the attention of Dr. Phil.

But their search is still not over. Because they do not know what happened to their son, or when it happened. They may never get those answers.

As an outside observer to this tragedy, I am angry. I am angry that our beloved NCIS and CSI and Criminal Minds have conditioned us to believe that the answer to any crime or mystery will be found if the team is searching well enough. We have unrealistic expectations. This past week I have come to notice that most crime shows- with a few exceptions- are missing a crucial component: a human element. I don't mean something to draw us in. I mean something for us to look at it and be appalled by what we see instead of enthralled by it.

I am angry because there are hundreds of people in this country that read his traumatic story as though it was a page of a book and not someone's life in the balance.

This is the impact of someone that I had no extreme personal connection to. I never want to think of what it would feel like if he were someone that I loved and cared for with my whole heart. But I guess no one ever does...