What caused my initial interest in this case and the reasons I've stayed with it have changed. Initial interest was peaked because I had once lived there, and I couldn't imagine why ANY pregnant woman would go off into the desert alone for several hours in the summer heat. Alarm bells went off immediately.
Then, the affair. Erin was shy, adventuresome, athletic, loved shooting, an animal lover and a dog owner, loved photography and could play the piano. She was a very adept horsewoman who could fill her hours riding and caring for her horse and others needing care. She married her high school sweetheart and moved across country alone to set up their home in 29 Palms. She wanted children and was excited about being pregnant, She was making plans for her Mother's upcoming visit. She was 19. She was having an affair with a man who was known to be devoted to his family. He also married a high school sweetheart and became a father to a little girl. He served his country in the Marine Corps and was preparing for the end of that service by making plans to return to his home state with his family. He wanted to return to school so that he could make a better life for his family. He was an adept horseman who could fill his free hours riding and helping out on a horse rescue ranch. He liked Jeeps, riding in the dune buggy, and shooting.
How did the combination of these two personalities and the events in their lives lead to the loss of the life of one of them and the possible sentence of death or life imprisonment of the other?
Even though there has been an arrest, there are really no answers. Why did this happen? How did it happen? Who was involved? How did it go this far?
And that's one thing that's NEVER bothered me about this case. There is NOTHING unsafe about driving through JTNP. Or nothing more unsafe than driving anywhere else in the area. The roads are paved. The pullouts are maintained. I saw nothing wrong with her driving up there, parking at a look out or point of interest, getting out of her car to look at the view, then getting back in to drive to the next spot. People have the wrong idea of what JTNP, IMO. It's no different that any other national park. I never thought, from the reporting, that she was going hiking in the wilderness area or even on any of the many maintained trails. I always got the impression from what was being reported she was driving up there to LOOK.