I think part of the “why this case” is that it was such a “human interest” story in the beginning. Pregnant woman goes missing just before Christmas, family makes appeals to any possible abductors on television, etc. Had the first media exposure to this case been simply the discovery of the bodies of her and her son, it probably wouldn’t have registered as much on the national radar. But because everyone was wondering where she was, and she was subsequently found dead, and her husband (who in the beginning was portrayed as a loving, concerned husband) was named the suspect, it just evolved into a media frenzy.
My apologies to Punoqllads, whose post somehow rendered itself invisible to me*, and said basically what I was trying to say, only better.
*I can’t possibly accept that I somehow messed up and didn’t see it.
Oh, I don’t necessarily believe it either, it was just another shocking development that the media reported ad nauseum.
The only thing I will say about the suspicious nature of it all was that when they finally decided to bring him in, he was found trying to cross into Mexico with $10,000 and a new dyed-blond haircut. Although I guess trying to flee doesn’t necessarily make him guilty - just look at O.J.! 
…And someone else’s ID. And enough potable water to last a few weeks. And camping gear. But, really, he was going down there on a sales call, yessirree.
No. Not yet.
That happens after he is convicted, and sentenced to share a prison cell with “Bubba”.
She is of (partial) Portuguese descent, as many people in central California are. If she isn’t white then people like Meredith Viera or Martin Sheen aren’t either. (??)
My mom’s maiden name is Lopez, and she’s whiter than rice.
Anywhoo, I think the main reason this is such as story is because she was missing and there was such a high profile search for her, as with Dru Sjodin (found dead), or Elizabeth Smart (found alive). If she was murdered and then found a few days later, it would mainly be a local story…
Well, judging by my own feelings in regard to Laci, she was very pretty in a vivacious, open, life-loving way, and the impression is that she was a very good person, so happy to be pregnant, and looking forward to having her baby. I’ve heard her referred to sarcastically by a talking head on cable as “the world’s most popular murder victim.” I think people feel about her much the same way they did about Elizabeth Smart: that she was sweet, pretty, and had a wonderful and happy future ahead of her, and that makes her death resonate more deeply with people than is the case with more anonymous murder victims.
IIRC, the disappearance of Laci came shortly after the case of another pregnant woman who disappeared shortly before her due date. In that case, the mom-to-be was murdered by another woman who cut the baby out of her and tried to pass the child off as her own. The murderer, who was pretending to be pregnant, had met the victim briefly in the baby aisle of a store and had struck up a conversation about due dates and such, and then stalked her prior to the abduction/murder. (Wish I could find a link) In the end the murderer killed herself when the police moved in, and the baby was returned to the father. But the father was a suspect at first, or was at least closely investigated.
So when Laci disappeared, I know my reaction was first that someone was doing a copycat crime to steal the baby, so I was very interested in the progression of the investigation. When it was revealed that Scott went fishing that Christmas Eve, I was very, very suspicious of him, if not as the perpetrator then as just a jerk. Come on, I work in retail…everyone knows that Christmas Eve is the day men do their shopping! And I think the first news reports said they were planning on having company over on Christmas Day and that Laci was preparing for the party. Well, if you’re 8-1/2 months preggers and having a party, your husband is a jerk if he isn’t running errands for you, or helping clean, or finishing the decorating. Unless he’s working that day, he’s vacuuming!
And of course, once something like this happens, and gets more complicated and interesting, people want to know the end of the story…therefore all the interest.
okay, I finally found the story about the above case. I had forgotten it happened so close by here…funny there haven’t been local news updates about how the dad and baby are doing these days, but maybe I missed them.
The media is frothing over the Laci Peterson case because it’s cheaper to film this live than to script yet another Lifetime Network made-for-TV weeper. It’s got all the elements, which is why we are watching it. Ditto Jon-Benet, ditto Elian Gonzales, and so on. If we truly weren’t interested the ratings would go down.
It’s stuff like this that makes me grateful once again that we don’t have TV.
I forgot to add - 
I’d just like to add for everyone who keeps claiming:
“it stayed in the media because her family made sure it did”
The only reason it made it in the media to begin with is because she was white, middle class, pregnant and it was Christmas Eve. All of these factors combined to make a “media cocktail” of sorts. As others have said, women go missing every day. Pregnant women go missing. Don’t you think their families would be making pleas on television for their return if they could get any media outlet to pay attention? If every family of a missing person got airtime, we would be watching these pleas on a daily basis.
Not everyone can get media attention. What happened to Laci was tragic, yes. She deserved that media attention. I’m just saying that to claim her race and socio-economic status had nothing to do with the amount of attention she got is silly. To say it was all her family’s tenacity is kind, but completely untrue.
If you also chuck your computer into the trash, cancel your newspapers and plug up your eyes and ears with cotton, you’ll be truly happy!