maybe his dad drove him to the park...
we just don't know these things from one call on the scanner.
Because I live in the area and have experience with the cold temperatures in the morning, I agree that the father probably drove his son to Chelsea Park.
School begins at 8:50am at Witt Elementary School.
Jessica left her home at approximately 8:30am.
It would take approximately 10 minutes to drive from Chelsea Park to Witt Elementary School. (Taking into consideration a school speed zone of 20mph; the traffic encountered.)
Perhaps at 8:40am, after waiting for the victim, J's father decided that he could not drive to the victim's house or follow her assumed route to the meeting place, and still get his son to school on-time.
However, after leaving his son at school, the man had some responsibility to notify the victim's family--even if it meant driving to their house to tell them, assuming nobody answered the phone--that he never met their daughter at the location where the child was on her way to meet her cousin.
This tragic failure, IMHO, is the disconnect that gave the perpetrator(s) more time to escape with the victim.
And I disagree strongly with those who say it is wrong to question the judgement of an adult who doesn't follow up with parents when the parents assume that the adult is meeting their child.