I thought it might be of interest to give a little bit of background on SMs hometown in Indiana. I'm from Indiana, live fairly close to Alexandria (where SM grew up and graduated from HS), have some personal connections to the town, and can offer a couple of observations about the town itself:
Alexandria is a classic Indiana small town. In fact, they hold the distinction of being called "Smalltown, USA" after a WWII publication put out by the United States Office of War Information in 1943 gave the town that moniker.
The population of Alexandria currently stands around 5,000. Historical census records indicate the population has typically ranged between 4,000 and 7,000 residents for the last 100 years.
Like most Indiana small towns, one might describe it (and most of its residents) as humble. Median family income in Alexandria, per the 2000 census, was around $43,000 annually. Current median home values in Alexandria are just north of $105,000 (per Zillow). Alexandria, like many small towns, has had its share of challenges but overall life in Alexandria has, for a long time, been about family, community, and some level of simplicity. You don't see extravagance in Alexandria, IN.
Alexandria is a tight-knit community. High School graduating classes run around 100. It's not uncommon in this community to have high school graduates whose parents also graduated from Alexandria High School (I've actually attended an Alexandria High School graduation, so I can speak from experience in this regard). I've eaten several times at one of the local "watering holes" and it's a bar/restaurant that you'll observe almost anyone walking in the door will make "rounds" in the room, shaking hands and and catching up with their neighbors. It's not surprising to me that the town Alexandria has done a lot for SM, despite the fact its been many years since she has lived there. Without sleuthing her family, I would expect she still has a number of relatives that live in or around Alexandria.
I've seen some speculation around possibly SM having "family" money and that being a possible motive in her disappearance. While of course it is possible knowing we can't/shouldn't sleuth family and people can come into money in a variety of different ways, I think it's not very likely that SM came from an independently wealthy family and inherited large sums of money that would/could be some kind of financial motive. JMO, MOO.