GrainneDhu
Verified Expert
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2010
- Messages
- 5,159
- Reaction score
- 53
I have wondered about that myself. Why was it well into the evening before Marlene found out that Sierra was not in school that day? Maybe she found out earlier but thought Sierra might have skipped school and was waiting for her to get home to deal with it? But, there is no evidence that Sierra was a skipper and if she wasn't there would be no reason for Marlene to just assume that she had skipped. If Sierra didn't skip and no one had reason to believe she had, did Sierra typically come home late from school some days? That seems more reasonable in that maybe she wasn't missed at home until that time.
I think most parents have said more than once "but s/he never did THAT before!" about their own special little snowflakes during the teen years.
To me, it seems more reasonable to assume your 15 year old has decided to experiment with the joys of cutting school than it is to assume your kid has been abducted. The first instances happens with thousands of 15 year olds every school day; the second instance, only a handful each year.
As I recall, Marlene texted Sierra before she left work and got no answer. She was worried when she got home and Sierra wasn't there, so she called around to Sierra's friends. Then she got the school's automated notification that Sierra hadn't attended school and that's when she called the police.