Being a social worker is a profession that necessitated compassion and a desire to help others. That’s hard to do when one hates most people.
Walking around barefoot where there are ticks, rattlesnakes, thorns, etc., is a bit eccentric.
Taking a photo and posting it of a bunch of missing children while on a trip is not necessarily weird but it is morbid, doesn’t seem to have a point (as it was too far away for their faces to be clearly seen, IIRC) and it’s oddly coincidental.
This sort of reminds me of the case a few years back when a woman disappeared in a state park somewhere in the desert. She came back out eventually. Made up a story, IMO but I think she was camping and hiding out in the park for some reason.
That would be a best case scenario here so I sort of hope something like that is going on. Rather than the horrible alternatives.
That was in Zion. The search for her went on for a few days, and then she was found not far from a trail, having gone off into a little wood, near a stream, and simply camped there. To be alone. She had mental health issues, IIRC.
I see a lot of red flags about CG's mental health. Visiting the cemetery and feeling so moved. Trying to use Euros to pay for an American motel. Pulling herself together when talking to authorities, but otherwise moving aimlessly around Northern Arizona when the initial purpose of the trip was to go cross country to visit family and go to a wedding. Abandoning her car.
I've seen clusters of behavior like this before, and in one case, the person was officially diagnosed as bipolar. She was visiting cemeteries in the Bay Area, tried to use inappropriate documents to board a plane, could be coherent for brief periods, but had actually flown cross country from Texas to California (to visit grandparents, she told the police when she was apprehended at the airport for attempting to use improper documents to get through security). The grandparents had died a decade before. She also tried to convince me that the documents she had (her grandparents' death certificates) were actually plane tickets. I know these sound like minor weirdnesses, but the total picture was definitely one of acute mental illness.
So I wonder. In another case, in Mexico, a young American woman was traveling without companions throughout Southern Mexico and her habit was to accept invitations for rides or lodging from anyone who offered. I was so scared for her. But I was helpless to stop her, and watched her get off a bus with complete strangers (to go stay at their house).
It's possible that CG was noticed by some kind person and offered a ride somewhere (complete with Dragon) and merely forgot her phone. It's also possible that someone offered her a place to stay - it happens. So I too am optimistic that she'll resurface. If her plan was to try and dry camp out that way, though, then I have deep worries.
The part about hating humans is something a burned out social worker or other caregiver might say, especially those on the front lines of visiting homes where children have been abused. Come to think of it, everyone I know who became a social worker back when we were in our twenties and thirties...quit after 5-10 years. We're seeing the same phenom among teachers in many places, too. It's so sad, because both groups felt called to help people - but it's so hard to see what goes on out there.
All speculation of course.
www.nme.com
sfyiinternationalschool.wordpress.com
