Bear with me, but I did a little research on the Redding area (next to SPs home) because I thought it might provide broader context (and because I traveled through the general area my observations below if you get through this post). Many are focusing on sex trafficking, but statistically, what kind of crimes happen in the area? Of course these may have nothing to do with SPs case but sex crimes and drugs are very serious issues there.
SEX CRIMES: Redding was named the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] most dangerous place in the United States for women in 2012 specifically because of high rates of sexual assaults.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghanc...women-anchorage-fairbanks-flint/#7a8c4e4238fe
SEX TRAFFICKING: Redding/Shasta County also does have an issue with sex trafficking, but its not considered a major hub like Sacramento. Still, there is a group entirely dedicated to countering sex trafficking there. One of the groups members believes she saw SP with 2 males at a gas station 2 days before her release. (She called police.)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...lue-pick-truck-rest-stop-just-days-found.html
Please note that average age of a victim is 13 and SP does not fit the profile at all also it doesnt seem most women/girls are grabbed off the street. Often they are runaways, at risk, fall in with a bad boyfriend, etc. (Lisa Ling did a really good segment on this.)
http://www.ncatcoalition.org/
DRUGS: Humboldt County/Eureka (neighboring Shasta County) has a reputation as a major marijuana producer, but Humboldt has actually been named one of 28 High Intensity Drug Traffic Areas in the United States and there are very serious drug issues (meth, heroin) in Redding as well. The cartels are active in Humboldt, and the indication is that these are local cartels (especially the marijuana farm owners, who have long fought the DEA). Mexican/Colombian/other Central American cartels are also very powerful of course, running drugs through California, and up to Canada.
SP was working occasionally in Eureka, coming in from Redding remarkable given that its a 3.5 hour trek through the mountains each way.
http://kymkemp.com/2016/11/07/two-h...lieved-by-family-to-be-abducted-near-redding/
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/whats-killing-us/Content?oid=3265840
GENERAL CRIME: (dated info, quoted verbatim from TIME) There were 1,298 violent crimes in the Redding metro area in 2012, up from 851 violent crimes in 2007. On a standardized, per 100,000 resident basis, violent crime rose more than 53% in that time. Additionally, property crimes rose by more than 50%, the most of any metro area reviewed, despite a nationwide 12.7% decline in such crimes during that time. According to the Redding Record Searchlight, some area residents believe that the areas high crime rates may be related to marijuana cultivation. Officials in Shasta County which makes up the Redding metro area recently elected to ban outdoor growing, although the city of Redding is not included in the ban.
http://time.com/6729/10-cities-where-violent-crime-is-soaring/
While I dont mean to insult Redding or her nearby town, when I stayed in that area of northern California earlier this year I was shocked by how hard up people seemed. Struggling towns, big and small, with people literally walking down the street tweaking from meth or slumped over from heroin Eureka, sadly, was the worst; I have lived and worked in several war zones and lived in many crime-infested cities in the U.S., and not exactly in the nicest neighborhoods, and Ive never seen such drug use or frankly, felt so vulnerable. These towns are absolutely gorgeous, set up against the mountains, with an old west feel and impressive history, but also with dilapidated infrastructure, crime, homelessness and hard drugs. So very, very sad; my besties parents moved up near there to a nicer town by the areas standards and its still a drug den. Not an ethnically diverse region at all (and very isolated, not near any airports) and I saw a few Confederate flags, unusual in California of course. This case caught my eye because the area (though I never went to SPs town) really made an impression on me, in stark contrast to my travels there in the 80s and 90s. (Cute though struggling back then, just not so depressed.)
On another note, given that we dont know much about her, Im still curious about SPs race issue(s), if any. SPs alleged letter on the Skinheadz website (which some have denied she wrote) where she supposedly brawled with several Latinos/Latinas; her Pinterest board on Cultural Differences which appears authentic, is strongly Islamophobic and pins white identity and also, interestingly, Native American quotes. These are worth noting, though they too, of course, may have nothing to do with the case. I found reports of the head shaving (unclear here but it seems part of her hair was shaved and chopped as well) troubling, and wonder about her supposed blog. There is so little information and I dont want to speculate on what happened and the fact is that she was injured. How badly and by whom, it doesnt matter. She was injured.
Given the branding I would also be curious about which groups engage in that not just the obvious based on her ID of the captors (Hispanic gangs) but also rape gangs or sexual predators, white gangs (possibly white supremacists, who usually embrace violence) and drug cartels, simply because of her location, the criminal elements and the demography of the area.
A couple of other random things to note:
+ Many interviews have been given to the British tabloid, The DailyMail. The DailyMail pays for stories. Most U.S. tabloids do not (but websites such as TMZ and Radar do.) 20/20 (which the husband will be interviewed for Friday) does not per an ABC policy.
+ The issue with the driver not seeing her hair chopped it was 4:30 a.m. and she was driving 70 mph down a dark highway. Unless her head was totally shaved I dont see this as a discrepancy.
+ The husbands poetic statement: He could be a writer or perhaps had someone else, perhaps a professional writer but not a professional statement drafter, write it for him. I dont see much odd here either.
+ If they had something to hide I would question why the husband is doing so many interviews and giving statements.
