This one has always bothered me. Her height and weight to me sound suspect... It's obviously not impossible for a 12 year old to be 5'8" 120lb (I even know a 12/13 year old girl about those measurements), but combined with the fact that the reported missing date is so unsure... Just all comes off to me as hinky.
I mean, spring of 1980 and july 15, 1981 are HUGELY different. Which was it? or neither? sometime in between?
They should have known the exact day (and year, for goodness sakes) and frankly, the exact hour she didn't arrive home or didn't make it to school. And if she went missing July 15, then it wasn't on the way to school, obviously, unless she was in summer school, and then there needs to be some clarification.
Was she walking to school and disappeared? waiting on the bus and wasn't there when it got there? did anyone actually see her waiting on the bus or walking to school? did she get on the bus and then didn't make it to the school? did she make it to school and then cut class and never came back? did she get to school, stayed all day and disappeared on the way home? What about statements from parents or guardians, siblings, friends, teachers, even LE?
It feels like a bunch of people let this girl down.