So sad to hear this news.
I also have questions, still.
Is it likely that Tim's parents would call 911 to report concern about Tim committing suicide? Or is it more likely they'd call 911 because he said he was being threatened in some way?
If his parents did, in fact, call 911 the day before to report a suicide threat, why wait a whole day to travel and check on him? If there's that much concern, why not send family immediately?
Is the Chattahooche cold enough to cause hypothermia? February was unusually warm in Atlanta and the winter was mild.
Obvious signs of foul play might include roped hands/feet, tapped mouth, etc. But without toxicology, poisoning and then dumping cannot be ruled out.
I also think the family's concern about someone having done something to Tim better aligns with their narrative of him being returned. I think if he'd said the night before that he was going to take his life, and they alerted authorities he'd threatened to do so, that both family and LE would have had a different approach in his search, or perhaps just recovery. Even LE said this case was incredibly unusual. There's not much unusual about a suicide if they all knew it was coming.
The suicide angle just doesn't seem to align with the details of the case.
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?...od=&begin_date=2018-02-01&end_date=2018-04-05
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?...od=&begin_date=2018-02-01&end_date=2018-04-05
Thanks for finding that. Though water temps lag behind air temps, probably it's even colder in February.
If we assume that water temps were between 40 and 50 degrees Farenheit at the time, this link from a Minnesota site says that expected time before exhaustion or unconsciousness is between 30 and 60 minutes, depending on a lot of factors.
http://www.nbc4i.com/news/where-is-...essional-missing-more-than-2-weeks/1096356881
You brought up a lot of good points and though I can't speak for everything, I will share my thoughts on what I can.
First, the water temperature in the river on that day. 'Lahiker' asked about this upthread and 'daisydaisy' supplied the link above to the site regarding the water temperature. I was able to change the graph at that site to reflect the water temps from the beginning of February in the Chattahoochee at Atlanta.
( Mine is the first one linked. Hers is second. Same site, different dates. ) According to that graph, it appears the water temperature on Feb. 12th was between 50-55 degrees.
I quoted 'Lahiker's' reply that shows survival times in varying water temperatures.
It could be expected then that Timothy would have one-two hours before exhaustion and unconsciousness, and one-six hours survival time at that water temperature in the river.
You stated you believe the family would be more likely to call 911 about Timothy being followed, than about Timothy making suicidal threats. Otherwise, they would have driven down to Georgia immediately rather than waiting.
In my opinion, if their concern about Timothy was only that he was being followed, they would have advised him to call 911 himself. There would have been no reason for
them to do it. Timothy himself was very bright.
He would have called 911 without needing any prompting.
From all of their interviews I got the distinct impression they were very concerned because Timothy was not acting like himself. His father stated Timothy sounded confused and angry. In my opinion, he gave them reason to believe he was at risk of danger to himself.
Why they didn't come then? The article l linked above states:
"After Cunningham stopped responding to phone calls and text messages, his parents drove through the night from their Maryland home to his apartment."
Perhaps you or I would have come sooner, and I'm sure now they wish they had. But I think they were relying on relatives who lived near Timothy to help watch him too.
As for LE's 'approach' I'm not sure what we would have seen as different, either way.
I don't recall LE really saying very much about their approach at all. Seems like they kept the public in the dark about most of it. We really had no idea what they were doing or not doing.
You're saying too that if this was a suicide, LE would not consider it unusual? I can't agree. Regardless of whether they were forewarned about it or not, I think it would be considered highly unusual, especially with the surrounding circumstances of Timothy's life.
You mentioned him being poisoned and dumped. Certainly it could be a possibility and I'm sure there are a lot of people in that same camp with you. I myself, though have never seriously considered it. Wonder when the toxicology results will be back?
Keep in mind, this is all just my opinion. I could be wrong about everything. In fact, as I said in a previous post, I hope I am. Not about him being poisoned but I do wish it was purely accidental.
At any rate, it's a terrible tragedy, no matter what happened.
I do hope his suffering was brief and merciful...
JMO