By: Valerie Milano – Pasadena, CA (Hollywood Today) 1/19/12

Wonya Lucas president and CEO of TV One made her debut appearance at TCA winter press tour with insight and updates on the cable network focused on programming for African Americans.

“Our mantra is really quite simple. We use three words that we keep in mind every day, and they’re simply, “double, relate, and expand.”  Lucas told journalists, “In 2012, we’ll double the original programming that is on our air. We’ll create relatable programming that really does focus on real lives and real experiences of black Americans today. And we’ll expand the genres that are represented on our network. By doubling the original hours that are on our network, we can have more depth. Simply put, we can go deeper into the lives of our people and the stories that we have to tell.”

Last night, Jan. 18^th, the network premiered a new 10-part series, “Find Our Missing” hosted by S. Epatha Merkerson (“Law & Order”). She told HT, “it’s probably the best thing you can do with a celebrity is shine a light on an issue. And I am my mother’s child, and so it’s important that I give back to a community that has given so much to me. I think that, by and large, my duty is to be the face to the call to action. That’s where I feel I will probably serve the largest purpose is that people have known me on “Law & Order.” They trusted Van Buren. It’s a face that they can trust’.

“Find Our Missing” will serve as the tentpole for our justice, mystery, and survival category. Now, this is a program that we think not only represents relatable experiences, but it is so needed in the black community” said Ms. Lucas.

40% of the missing in our country are people of color and Derrica Wilson, Co-founder, President, and CEO of the Black and Missing Foundation told reporters at TCA “t’s not reflected on television, and so, therefore, when it’s our community, they don’t realize that this is an issue. “ It seems most Americans can recall the stories of Natalee Holloway, Chandra Levee or Elizabeth Smart, but not many are aware of Pamela Butler.

“We want to show that the African American community is just as the cases are disparate. I mean, there are people like Pamela Butler, but there are also children. There are teenagers. “ explained Donna Wilson, “Find Our Missing” producer and showrunner. “what we want to make sure of is, regardless of what the background is, there is absolutely no reason that there shouldn’t be just as much law enforcement effort put towards these cases as any other case.”

On episode 1, “Black and Missing”, the show explores the disappearance of Pam Butler who, two years ago, completely vanished from her home in a lovely, middleclass neighborhood. A bright, driven and well-loved EPA analyst and real estate investor, Ms. Butler has an elaborate security system in place covering almost every angle in her home. After a missed dinner and several days of no communication, her mother begins to worry and gathers family at her home. No one is there, and nothing seems amiss except an unlocked window and missing bed linens.

The police are contacted and seem to follow up on every family member, her neighbors and her boyfriend, then began to delve into her professional and financial life.

Derrica Wilson, having been in law enforcement herself,  sees it as piecing together information and evidence to build the whole picture. “We are trying to break that stigma in our community of that “no snitching.” She explained, “we need to get back to the way it used to be, and we need to open our mouths and say something. And I think that this show is just going to shine a different light. And the partnership, just the fact that TV One has chosen our organization to even partner with, with our anonymous tip line, we tried our best to cover everything from A to Z. So if someone has a tip about this person, without compromising their identity, they can report it to us anonymously, and we will share that with law enforcement.”