Thanks for the link, Klily444. Yes that is different and not as ominous, it also appears to be a guess with the "I think" tacked on. But if Hannah knew McGrady's because she had been there with the ski team then I think the guess was wrong.
It may have appeared she knew him (JM) because she knew him. It is the most simple explanation. Hannah was in the bar, possibly with a dead phone. She could have asked Abby or any of the bartenders to call her a cab. I imagine closing time on a Friday night would generate at least a couple of cab requests. Or she could have asked to use a phone. She did neither.
I'm not able to reconcile a straight A student for 6 years being so trusting, naive, and fearless of letting a complete stranger pick her up, buy her a drink, and give her a ride. I think she was smarter than that. I know LE said they have no reason to believe Hannah knew JM, but that's different than knowing for a fact. I am not saying Hannah knew him well, only that he wasn't a complete stranger. Heck, you can be married to someone for 30 years and think you know your spouse only to find out you never really knew him or her.
I was a straight A "gifted" student my entire life; also an athlete and very responsible. So responsible, in fact, that I was very new to drinking and being on my own when I left for college 900 miles away.
It is certainly true that Hannah could have had some sort of agenda downtown. But, here is what I see based simply on my own experiences at that age:
She was excited to go out and party with her friends that night, and drank a good deal (based on what we've heard).
She was hopping from activity to activity--dinner, then a party, then to Grady's and at least had one more party on her radar. I did that many times; sometimes, it was because I was looking for a boy I had a crush on. Sometimes, I was trying to cram all the fun in that I possibly could, and didn't want to miss any party, so I tried to go to all of them. And sometimes, I was just restless (and brave) because I was drunk, so I wandered.
At Grady's, she was pretty drunk. She didn't see or get what she was looking for (access to the bar, bathroom, or a person), but wasn't particularly panicked and saw no need to get "help" from the bouncer, since she was an underage girl.
She headed out in the wrong direction from Grady's, and jogged past the gas station because it was a little creepy.
Got to the mall, got a little worried because she hadn't meant to end up there. This is when WG called her "distressed."
JM jumps in with his jovial manner and leads her to a bar. She is around tons of people, so sees no reason to be worried, and figures she will go to the bar and figure out what to do from there.
HERE is where I think control was taken from her. Either JM bought her shots, and this rapidly pushed her into very drunk, or he drugged her. Otherwise, it makes no sense to me that she could barely stand up when she left--she was walking fine in the Tuel's and Sal's videos.
I would have done ALL of those things, up to this point. I was probably very lucky. But none of it seems unusual to me. I don't think she knew she was lost until she saw the mall, which is why she never needed GPS. Because once she saw the mall, she realized she was lost--then she got anxious. I think that is exactly when she would have used her phone--but JM swooped in before she did so. And, honestly, perhaps she was looking for a bathroom before she called friends. If you are drunk and desperately have to use the bathroom, that may take precedent. And may be enough to make someone appear very distressed.
I would NOT have gotten into the car with a stranger. Unless...I was extremely intoxicated or drugged. We have every expectation that she was one of these at this point, per the statement of the door checker. Then, all bets are off.
I think we could conjecture all night about whether she had some big agenda--but I'm not sure why we would, when a very simple scenario is just as likely. We already know JM looks for vulnerable women; she was clearly vulnerable in those videos. I don't see any gain from trying to add complexity to the scenario.
(Not being snarky--just my opinion!)