montessori makes celebrity news story

A troubled fifteen year old girl was murdered in California after running away from home and then Georgia-state care. Her alleged murderer was a 20-year-old man she met while homeless and working as a prostitute. The news coverage of this event continues to reference that she is the great-great granddaughter of Maria Montessori.

Why? Of course her death is newsworthy because it represents a tragedy, and news consumers love tradegy. But, who is Maria in this story? A "celebrity" reference? An indicator of an ironic outcome for the descendant of an educational leader?

Just found a story from a Georgia alt weekly paper that gives this story the detail it deserves. Missing from Georgia DFACS group home facilities for a year, it seems many different state agencies failed in the effort to find a missing child. Hanna Montessori's death in California was first in the news as the story of an unidentified teen victim.

the internet responds:
Sacred Ordinary
Websleuths

Murder stories (mostly covered by the AP):
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Portland (ME) Press Herald (Montessori grew up in Maine)
Los Angeles Times