I've skimmed thru most of this and haven't seen this mentioned.
I think GA was semi-serious in his intent and definately was crying out for help.
WHY?
A. He had a job interview at 8:30 that morning. Either it was because CA saw him getting more and more depressed and thought if he would get out and find a job, he'd come out of his funk. OR, it was because only Lee was working in that family and financially times were getting tough and he felt OBLIGATED to get out and work cause he'd caused enough financial burden. Or, it was because it was what he was SUPPOSE to do. Take any 100 different spins on this you will.
Regardless, I don't think he was anywhere READY to get out and try to resume life and work again, but I think he felt he had no choice. To me, that JOB INTERVIEW he didn't attend the morning of his disappearance was the catalyst and stressor (among everything else) that caused him to "dissappear" that day.
B. I don't care how you feel, the family will NEVER be able to celebrate Christmas again without knowing it was the time of year their *tiniest* hopes of ever finding Caylee alive were dashed. My mom's mother (my grandmother) died of natural causes during the Christmas season, and even 20 years later, Mom still gets sad/down over it after the hubhub of the holidays are over. It's a bad time to have that kind of emotional swing.
Thoughts... especially on the job interview being the catalyst?