I like that Pash posts on here. I do find it his comments a bit acerbic and patronising, but his name is in question so I can see why. In the spirit of websleuths, all ideas, no matter how far fetched should be explored. Often, a thought or idea, leads to different ideas...So I disagree with Pash bashing Satch as Satch is level-headed, fair, and respectful of all posters ideas.
First, just because a teacher had a nickname and was an outsider in the town, it does not make him a prime suspect. We all had teachers we didn't like, that were weird, that we regrettably made fun of, that smelled...the list goes on and on. Children and young adults can be mean spirited, so rumours, are rumours. I think if there was something with Pash, it would have come up by now. And if Pash knows something, he is not at liberty to discuss it. That does not make him guilty. In hindsight, I am certain, with the better mental health education we have today, that Pash should have reported this depression and social ideation immediately. There were not protools for that, but I would imagine based on how this has deeply impacted Pash's life and with the mental health awareness we have now, that he would have. That's not guilt though. And honestly, if a teenager divulged he was suicidal, as they are self-absorbed, reactionary, and impulsive and Pash didn't look at those assignments immediately (to a teen this is right now), he could have easily taken that as dejection or lack of caring. Remember teens don't think like rational adults, especially when under distress. He could have panicked and wished to take the assignments back...and a as a teen if seemed the last straw...
So...
1) We all think there is something relevant in the assignment. Pash can't speak of it due to legal advice. But, my guess is if there were leads in this assignment based on his answers, it would have been eventually revealed if it was based on typical teen things-Suicide, Sexuality, Pregnant Girlfriend, Not Graduating on Time, or joining a Hare Krishna group. All of those, over time, would have become more culturally normative to speak of and eventually leaked. Especially with both parents passed away...
If there is something in those assignments involving high ranking officials, I would imagine the majority are dead, retired, or have moved on. First and foremost, who is going to believe a high school kid instead of say the mayor, police chief, or other officials? It just seems, unless he had some pretty concrete evidence and "informed" other adult people, besides in a school assignment, it would be easy to dismiss. Even if it was allegations of doping or faked urine tests, it would be easy to project it back on him saying he was being a sore loser, etc. We are talking about a teen taking on educated adults, it is easy to see who would come out ahead.
Is it possible he was showing signs of depression and perhaps paranoia associated with a mental illness. Thus the accusations or what ever topic he wrote of. Hell, he could have been convinced they were a pedophile gang or were implanting tracking chips in people. Who knows. While it might have been damning, it really doesn't seem the evidence or support from an adult were backing him. As a student, I was involved in sports, skiing, track, swimming, and you learn the process of interacting with adults to problem solve as a norm. So, for no-one to know, seems strange. It could indicate a mental health issue if he could no longer trust the adults around him. And he could have gone on a "mission" and inadvertently got himself killed. A fall, drowning, etc. trying to get away. We have to remember this is a teenager, so he does not have the adult thought-processes we can apply to his situation. The link below discusses the case and says Roger smoked pot. Marijauna can make certain people very paranoid.
His parents say he was acting strangely prior to the disappearance, and while he might have been going through the motions of planning the future, he could have been increasingly disillusioned as everything he worked for seemed anticlimactic. Add some pot and that becomes deeper depression and paranoia. If he wrote he was suicidal, it should be taken seriously as that could have been the outcome. Coming from a small town where you are lucky to fill a football team with enough kids, every kid is talented and a star athlete. This can lead to a serious wake-up call when you move to a bigger city or university and see true competition. Going from excellence to mediocrity can be very depressing. He had a lot of work to do to achieve the ski team, that could have been daunting. Hero to zero in a way. Do we even know if this was his dream? What he planned for his life?
Did he return all of his school books? I don't know what the weather was like, but he seemed very underdressed. As a skier he knew about layers and hypothermia. Was the start of him not carrying about the outcome?
I don't know about the poacher story. We would need more information. What was this man dying of? Was he delusional? People who are dying sometimes lose linear time. Was this a incident that occurred in, say, vietnam or WWII, that was intrusive during the dying process. That is very common. Yes, it would be true, the timeline might not be. Did his buddy collaborate to give the dying man his peace, even though it may have been a different time? Too many questions with that. And picking Roger out in a line up, again, he would be a familiar face. But, the other piece is , where was Roger supposedly kept from disappearing until this time? Honestly, this could have been a misplaced war or other memory, very normal in the many stages of the dying process.
Thoughts?
https://findrogerellison.wordpress.com/inside-a-reporters-notebook/