That's just it though. If she's completely innocent of any wrongdoing, the children are safely hidden away for whatever reason, and this whole drama does turn out to be over some bizzare custody battle, then not showing up doesn't help her in any way (at least that I can see). She has more to lose by not showing up because then she'd risk legally losing the kids (if they're ever found), lose the custody dispute ( that was never there to begin with, according to LE), get a criminal record, risk getting thrown in jail, lose her money in costly legal battles, lose the support of family, friends, and others who question her actions and behavior, and who knows what other unforseen consequences.
People keep throwing out this supposed custody dispute as the reason for hiding the kids (assuming they are still alive and hidden somewhere). But yet that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to me. Here are a few reasons why:
- LE says there's no custody dispute. Which means either Lori's defenders are simply mistaken, or LE is lying. Without knowing anything else I would lean towards believing LE over the supporters because LE has greater access to the facts in the case, whereas the supporters only have conjecture at this point. And what I mean by that is I've never heard Lori or anyone else directly tied to the case even mention a custody battle - that argument has only ever come from people who are not personally involved, and with no supporting evidence, ergo it's pure speculation at this point.
- Who would even be able to bring forth a valid and legal custody claim? Not Tylee's father, he's dead. Not JJ's adoptive father, he's dead too. Not JJ's biological parents - they ceded custody from the very beginning and wouldn't likely have any standing still. Who does that leave? Grandparents? Lori's parents aren't likely to do that, and besides grandparents generally don't have much legal standing to force a custody battle. Maybe JJ's grandparents? Well, they have shown an interest in the children's safety and well-being, but again grandparents don't have many legal rights in custody disputes. Besides that though, from all appearances they have always looked on Lori with love and great respect as a good mother and caretaker of the kids, and the wife of Charles. It wasn't until after this whole mess broke out that their views and opinions have begun to change a little, but even here they haven't been exactly aggressive or hostile towards her like one would expect considering the circumstances, but genuinely compassionate and trying to make sense of everything in as loving a way as I've ever seen. Who else would have a legal case to fight for custody of the kids? The government maybe? But why would they get involved? They may potentially get involved now with everything that's been happening in the past few months, but there was absolutely no indication of anything like that from before the kids were disappeared.
- Even if there was some party involved in a custody dispute, Lori, being the mother and legal guardian of the children, had the backing and full weight of the law on her side. Even if JJ's grandparents were fighting for custody, threatening to take the kids away, or harassing Lori by constantly sending the police to investigate and perform welfare checks (none of which appears to have ever happened), Lori has full rights and could have easily handled the situation legally. As an example, I have had extended family involved in divorces and ugly legal battles for custody of the children where one party or another will try and use the police as a weapon by constantly calling for welfare checks. This almost always and invariably backfires on the person as charges of harassment and/or custodial interference can be filed against them. The one party simply needs to show the child/children to the police to show that they're ok and doing well and then file a complaint against the other party for harassment or custodial interference (assuming they've been doing it habitually and as a means of disrupting legal parent time). I just don't see how hiding the kids away if there truly is a custody dispute is a good idea in any way shape or form. It would most likely backfire on the parent or guardian.
- Even if they were hidden away safely because of a custody issue, what kind of parent would tell others that their children are dead or simply never existed, like Lori and Chad apparently are on record as having said? That one's a real head scratcher and doesn't look good no matter how you look at it. Better to simply tell the truth and say that they're in hiding because of a nasty custody dispute. You'd at least get a lot more compassion and sympathy, and maybe people even willing to help you out and take care of the kids if they're perceived to be in danger from a former spouse' family. All moo.
- If a custody dispute is truly going on, who in their right mind abandons their children into the care of another for an extended period of time and goes on vacation to a tropical island paradise with no apparent concern or contact with the children? I mean seriously! Like I said earlier, there's been a few custody disputes among my relations, and in every single instance the parent has kept the children as close as possible to themselves at all times, even sometimes at the risk of doing something stupid and ill advised (such as taking the children across state lines without informing the other party in a joint custody case, potentially bringing kidnapping charges against the offending party). If Lori is hiding the children with family, friends, or others, she's sure putting a whole lot of trust in them that they won't turn the kids over to the government, especially with the risk the new guardians would be facing in a missing and endangered children case. I just don't see it happening. Besides that, if they were alive and well, under the care of others, you'd think Lori (assuming she's like any other loving parent) would want to stay in touch with them and make sure they were ok. If such were happening then I'm sure LE would have been able to pick up on that and track them down by now. I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to get a search warrant for the phone records of the POI and find out who they've been calling regularly and locate the children from that. Which obviously hasn't happened yet.
A custody battle simply doesn't make any kind of reasonable sense as to why the children might be hidden away. Unfortunately there's a whole lot of other scenarios that do make sense as to why Lori and Chad might want the children disappeared. And it doesn't end well for anyone, especially the children. Moo, sadly.
