Completely agree. There nothing even remotely showing up that looks like she was in a gang at all. Lots of kids do these signs, doesn't even matter where they live or the amount of money they have - it's widespread & they think it's funny and/or cool.
I'm confused why you said "initiation" though. Were you referring to my statement about initiation? If so I just want to explain what I meant by that. There are gangs out there that have an initiation process that one would have to complete & pass in order to be accepted. Such an initiation could include robbery and abduction culminating in rape. It's sick but there are gangs out there that have a prospect go out & achieve what is expected then bring the female back for the others. It's sick, demented, disgusting...but real. That's very scary. Anchorage has just as many gangs as any other city. None of this means a gang is involved but it can't be ruled out yet either. Just wanted to explain here I was coming from when I was wondering if her kidnapping could be related to an initiation. Again, alot alot alot of coffee huts have been robbed over the past few years so why wasn't Sam just robbed instead of being robbed AND abducted? That's the question at the back of my mind.
The fact that le keeps saying "man" makes me wonder about his age, which leads me away from the gang concept. Why aren't they saying "male" instead? Could age be a factor? Was any facial hair shown? Dark hair, light or gray hair?