Yes, totally! The entitlement factor of the public, because they learn about a case, start following it, get emotionally attached, and think they should be told everything by LE and investigators, as well as consulted for their thoughts is rampant. It happens in every big case where there's a crime committed.
When this began it was NOT a 'big case where there's a crime" - it was a mystery - a missing person.
I feel as though I need to defend folks here who are posting a frustration in how LE handled this case. Maybe for some because we do have social media as a channel used by so many to communicate they are not clearly stating the particulars -
It is not folks wanted details because of curiosity or selfishness. Folks wanted to HELP and many have grown accustomed with using their devices to spread the word - which could be a wonderful tool imo when it comes to a missing person case!
It may also be voiced here because IA LE really circled their wagons and closed off communication with the public from the beginning except for 1 deputy speaking to the press during the lone initial public search which drew over 200 people to help find Molli and an interview by the Sheriff a week later. This sort of nonengagement let the floodgates open to speculation and the folks had no anchors to hold fast.
As more days ticked by, the public naturally began to question why it was taking so long? If LE didn't need the public's help then why haven't they found her? It feels to most an OR question - either LE is like a bloodhound and hot on the trail of someone missing - which considering the digital footprint mentioned that made sense. But the time clipped by and she was not found. And then the weird PCs where they handed out stats for ALL missing persons in IA - a report which didn't include Mollie because she will be in the NEXT year's report.
And the particulars of that report didn't include the actual classification used for Mollie -
"OTHER Missing Adult"
And they never explained.
I think folks who sit back and say WELL we just don't deserve to have particular information because it is none of our business is missing the opportunity to look close enough at a case to help the next case be resolved quicker and hopefully with a better result.
For me I have cared about missing persons of all ages for a long long time. And sadly when a young woman vanishes it is very common for her to have not lived very long if abducted. It may be minutes, hours, or days but it is rarely more than three weeks before she dies. What is widely published is the first 72 hours are critical.
Those hours are so critical our Country has special task forces to attack when a child goes missing. I believe some of what they do with those cases should be used for every missing person - it should NOT still be where anyone in LE makes the assumption someone because of their age is either a runaway or walk-a-way (someone who is of legal age and because of THEIR privacy the case stalls for even a day) because UNTIL the MISSING is FOUND the circumstances cannot be clear for any third party be they LE or other.
And as a Society if a report is filed it deserves to be handled as an emergency in my opinion.
I believe the zeal and interest and concern should be fostered, harnessed, and used to our advantage - not reproved or belittled.
Just my opinion of course.