I hesitate to jump on the "guilty parent" band wagon on this. Why isn't it possible that Dylan woke up after dad left and tried to get to a friends house? Why isn't it possible that some monster (because you websluethers KNOW they are out there!) didn't pick him up? Why isn't it possible that he took his belongings because he was hoping to stay with this friend for a while, even his pole so they could go fishing? If he was visiting dad and had only been there overnight, his things would maybe still be packed....so he just grabbed the whole backpack instead of picking out a few things. My 14 year old would totally do that and not waste time going thru his pack....he'd just grab stuff and go.
That is a viable scenario. But a couple of things keep making some of us suspicious about it.
There is only one road out of the neighborhood. It is long and straight and the only way out. So D would have been very visible if he tried walking or hitching. And it is a very busy road, so the locals say that he would have been seen by one of the locals if he had been walking there.
Also, the fact that his cell was TURNED OFF at 8 pm
and never turned back on. If he was wanting to go meet up with his friends, why not contact them that morning? Try to get a ride, or tell them he was still coming. Woud your 14 yr old get up and try to hitch somewhere without ever contacting his friends to see where they were and if someone could meet him or get him?
And also the fact that dad left at 7:30, never called his kid to say he was coming back to give him a ride. Comes home at 11:30, sees his kid is not home, but doesnt call or go to the friends home until 4:15 to see if D ever made it there.
Now his son had only been there since the night before. It is not like a regular routine, where he might not check because everything is set and automatic. This was the kid's first night there in months and he didn't know anyone in dads town, but when he is gone with no note, no message, dad never checks it out?
It is just these weird things that bother me and make me think it was not a stranger abduction.