I'm not so sure it was a suicide mission as I earlier suggested.. it really does seem that what the kids are saying matches up with a witness who claims that Mark Tromp was 'stalking' them as they played Pokemon Go driving around at night:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/b...-trip-cloaked-in-mystery-20160901-gr6ujf.html
Either Mark was going to carjack them to ditch the silver station wagon, OR he has suffered a total psychotic break with paranoia and delusions and believed the people playing pokemon go were somehow chasing him, even though he was the one following them.Think about it. When playing pokemon go people drive and randomly stop and use their phones. Heck i've been out walking and been spooked by these people at night, so I think the second scenario makes more sense. If this is the first time Mark has gone psychotic (at least, first time in front of his kids as adults), then it probably explains the situation the best.
When someone in your family goes manic or psychotic it's a very difficult thing to deal with. I think his family played along with it, but only to a point. I've seen the same thing myself. No one wants to admit there is a problem at first. But eventually it goes so far that, like in this case, someone gives up, in this case the son went first. The daughters followed suit, and it would have been a very difficult, very emotional time, which would have caused tension.
I think Mark probably suggested a 'technology free holiday' as a guise to hide the fact he was going psychotic and believed something/someone was trying to get him, so the tech free holiday was the best excuse he could find to take his family away without being tracked. The fact his son 'voluntarily' threw his phone out the car aligns with the son going along with his fathers delusions. His wife would have felt a responsibility to go along with it, and may had even been convinced what Mark was thinking was real too, but eventually she gave up as well.
Not knowing what else to do, they went to the police to try and track down their dad. I think the two youngest kids handled it the best, but clearly it was too much for the mother and older sister. I can totally understand it if what I'm suggesting turns out to be the case. The way the son refers to it as 'something out of a movie' gives more credence to it being mental health related, as delusions and the behavior that follows it often are inspired by movies and books etc.
They really need to find Mark soon. If he stays in the bush too long his condition will deteriorate even further, without water it will make his condition even worse. They seem like a really nice bunch of kids, I hope they find their dad soon.
I think the thing with cases that involve mental illness is that, they're so hard to understand for the majority of people, because mental illness doesn't follow logic. It's totally illogical and counter to anything that any healthy person would ever encounter in their lives. It's only when you're exposed to it or even worse a victim of it, that you understand the seemingly incomprehensible.
If the kids seem like they're hiding something etc, it's probably just because they are trying to protect their dad.. mental illness has a horrible stigma attached to it.
