I've been away for a few days but had time to think about some loose ends, stuff that keeps nagging at me and a handful of factors that make this case unusual:
1. Growing up in the Midwest and being something of a crime-watcher even as a youngster, I used to see families put up rewards in cases that were obviously hopeless. Maybe it's a way of "taking action" when all else seems lost.
On the other hand, LE sometimes uses reward posting as a tool to manipulate the behavior of various POIs. Who seems nervous when a $100k, for example, reward is announced? Who leaves town? Who tries to hire a 3rd party to call in the tip and collect the reward (in hopes of splitting it later on)?
Other times, a reward is just a reward when there are no solid leads and LE hopes an otherwise reluctant citizen will come forward (a non-documented immigrant, or an ex-con who knows his/her past will be publicized, even if he/she had nothing to do with the crime in question.
In Missouri and Kansas back in the 1970s, there were numerous mob-related killings where reward money brought out otherwise fearful (of reprisal) people to report suspicious happenings. Money can be a powerful motivator in situations like the MT case, and large rewards can bring frightened, camera-shy (for whatever reason) people out of "hiding."
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3. Initially, there was a lot of confusion and word-play on the part of the MSM and others about MT's clothing. It changed from "black running bra" to "running top," to "pink running top," to several other permutations of those words. Odd, that. I own running tops and bras and never confuse their colors or names. In the non-running community, the term "bra" is often misunderstood, which is why I suspect MSM was dabbling in a bit of word manipulation so as to "clean up" an unintended initial impression.
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6. Has there been any comment/discussion about MT's attitude toward marriage? Was she looking forward to the trip for the trip's sake, or also for the fact that her BF's brother and fiance were getting hitched? Weddings (and funerals) bring out some pretty weird behavior in certain people, especially if they're already in a difficult place in their lives.
7. I hope I'm wrong, but I believe this will not end well, and that someone close by knows all the answers. If you are of the praying kind, please join me in doing a bit of "knee time" for MT's family today. They deserve all the help we can give them, even if it's just a whispered prayer or two to the Almighty, asking to bring them comfort during this painful ordeal.
[[ Edited to remove a stray word ]]
