I did believe Carlee was missing at first, and felt worried for her and her family.
But very quickly, things did not add up. Then the traffic cam came out and it didn’t make sense with her story.
A badly crafted narrative has fallen apart in the face of the facts.
I feel for her parents. Imo it’s entirely possible that they completely believed her.
My own child lied about some things as an adult, and I believed her because she was my child and it didn’t occur to me that she was lying, for her own reasons.
That is a very, very difficult thing to endure. I had to face facts when they became glaring and I imagine her parents are in the same situation now. However, since they are in the public eye, (something which I suspect Carlee did not intend), they may well choose to avoid answering or choose to say they still believe her.
I do think that she stole and filed a false report, so maybe the law will come for her.
IMO the google searches that LE won’t reveal, out of respect for Carlee’s privacy, are the answer to the “why“ of it all.
JMO
ETA: thanks,
@CamilleBSP, I edited to fix.