A couple general statements re: the drug thing:
If someone really wants drugs, and can not find them close by, then they may be willing to drive to the ends of the earth to get it. JMO
While I don’t consider marijuana a hard “drug”, but rather a natural and what should be considered universal legal “herb”, imo, I can honestly say that if I ran out of weed I would drive to Timbuktu to get it.
Now add a drug(s) that is highly addictive and would cause someone to “jones” and have withdrawals, I could definitely see someone taking a long drive if the situation required.
Just some thoughts here in the most victim-friendly of ways. I/we do not know if drugs are at play in this case, but wanted to respond to some of the posts which addressed this.
ETA: Also re: making a sale on an item, if it would produce enough profit to make the drive worthwhile, then I could see that too, especially if times are desperate. Additionally, these are pandemic times, and she has a child to feed and get diapers for, afterall.
I wonder if she might have gone down there to pick up a significant quantity of some drugs to bring back/sell/turn over, then something happened with the Florida contact. Maybe cocaine? Crack? Meth? Pills?
LE would now have a record of cell phone transactions.