I am finally here! I took me 5 threads to get to posting! This isn't my first WS case I have been addicted to, this one drew me in when I first saw the news on Facebook a couple of days after she went missing since it's Marine Corps related. My husband is active duty and entering his 12th year of service (and deployed, so I can spend lots of time on WS!) and somehow I have managed to ride along for 11 of them.
Now I shall share my random thoughts.
Having worked in OB, I've seen just about everything. It doesn't seem all that odd to me that the pregnancy dates have varied. It's most likely just differences in how media is reporting it but the difference between 2 months and 3 months pregnant is pretty negligent in the medical field. A lot of people aren't sure when they conceived even if they've had only one partner. Many pregnancies that aren't sure are dated by ultrasound. It's pretty standard with Tricare to not have an ultrasound or be seen at all until 10-12 weeks. I've also historically seen a fair share of people come in not sure of the paternity of the child if they had more than one partner. When I first read the radio article about the suspicion of a father other than her husband I only really took that to mean that there existed the possibility of someone other than her husband, which is pretty clear to me that she was not monogamous. Unfortunately, in the military I don't think this scenario is unheard of either, not common, but not a stretch of the imagination by any means. It also seems more common than I would have thought for someone engaging in an affair to continue to sleep with their spouse, even if it's only a couple of times. Or sometimes the physical aspect of an affair doesn't extend beyond one time. Probably things we will never know unless we are a party in the relationship.
I paid attention the other day when I went on base to the cameras here. I went in a back gate that has one lane of traffic in and one lane of traffic out, with one guard shack. It's similar in set-up to the Condor Rd gate from what I've seen in pictures. There were 4 cameras I could readily see. One that would see the front of my vehicle approaching the guard shack and also into my vehicle when I stopped to show my ID, it would see my face. It's courtesy to remove your sunglasses when you hand over your ID, I always do, but I am sure a lot of people don't know to do that. If I had a passenger, they would be visible, but not sure about their face. A second camera would see my vehicle (and my license plate) as I was passing through the entrance. On the way out there is no stopping, but there again is a camera angled to see my vehicle as it approaches (no front plates in this state though) and the rear of the vehicle as it leaves, but nothing angled into the vehicle. I have heard there are even more cameras that I probably didn't see. But I would guess there is at least some circumstantial evidence to be gained from that footage.
As far as duty goes in the Marines, my personal experience is this. Duty is usually 24 hours. Marines use the term "duty" to describe the extra duty they are assigned outside of their normal "job". Coming in to your normal job is not negotiable but trading and switching on the duty schedule happens often. I don't think thing that I am thinking of as a "roster" is an official document. It might even get shredded after the month is over. Either a staff NCO or a junior officer usually makes it and then runs it by the CO/XO who signs off on it. It generally is just a calendar layout of the types of duty and who is assigned to them. I am not sure what the duties are in the type of unit Cpl Corwin is assigned to are, I am more familiar with smaller units of a different type. Anyways, there are usually many hand written notes and pen scratches and trading on this calendar/roster. Usually the superiors are more concerned that SOMEONE is there to cover the duty, whether it be the person originally assigned or not. It's often a "work it out on your own" type of thing if you have a conflict with your assignment. The duty log book however is an official legal document. Everyone makes notes in it a little differently but the basic elements are the same. Usually there is a duty corporal and a staff NCO or officer assigned the same duty. The SNCO or officer are usually always around or at the very least reachable by direct cell phone or radio call. If a corporal has a situation that he is directly involved in of course he will write his own notes, but sometimes the superior writes most or all of the notes and just writes the corporals name as being present. All this to say that it may theoretically be possible for someone to trade duties and it not be on that roster/calendar if it was last minute, but who worked would absolutely be in the log book.
I don't know where I stand on theories :/ I do agree that law enforcement believes a crime has been committed, the fact that they had probably cause for the warrants is pretty apparent, they just aren't going on the record about it.
It seems really odd to me how the Locate Erin page is being ran, but also fairly clear that they aren't out for the speculation and leads like a lot of missing person pages are. They should change the title of the page to "support" or something. Plenty of people would be happy to offer it, seems like, maybe it would cut down on some of the policing and drama.
/end thoughts