I think anyone that paid attention to the remarks his friends made would realize that this was a young man often left to his own devices, even when he lived in Bayfield. If he did leave the house to hitch a ride, it because it was something he had done previously.. I have listened closely to how Dylan has been described by his friends. They have stated that Dylan had hitched to see them and they are not talking just the snowstorm incident. Whether he hitched on the spur of the moment, or he planned the rides he hitched. According to his friends, Dylan showed up unannounced, meaning that they did not always plan to meet up via text or phone. They describe him as being fearless. One example was when he jumped into the river and his friends stated then they knew it was safe.
They spoke specifically of the previous summer in which they hung out every day, had pizza in the same place and that Dylan always ordered pepperoni pizza. I took note that this probably occurred on ER's watch and reminded me of her statement that he would tell her where he landed for the night . Then corrected it to say usually by morning when he woke up by ER's own admission..