According to Mrs. Ridulph's statement to a newspaper reporter from another paper, Maria was a very quiet, very shy child, but if upset, very quickly could become "a screamer". Mrs. Ridulph stated when Maria became like that, only Mrs. Ridulph could calm her down. Maria's siblings stated in interviews that there was a corner in the front room of their house that was Maria's play area. She played there quietly. She was by all accounts, a good, quiet child. And there was one other thing about Maria, she was very scared of the dark, according to what her mother said to a newspaper reporter. But Mrs Cliffe last saw Maria playing in the dark in the Cliffe front yard, or rather, "chasing around a large tree trunk with Cathi, and screaming". Mrs. Cliffe was quoted. The next sentence in the article states that it was dark, and there were no street lights. That's odd, too, why would a child who is terrified of the dark play in the front yard further from her home in the dark? Answer: a person I know from Sycamore says there WAS a street light on that corner back then, and that it was THE ONLY street light on that street back then, which is why Maria and Cathi were playing there -- it was considered "safe" because of the street light, and because kids could "see" in order to play. So why did the reporter put that it was "dark" and there were no street lights? Did the reporter assume that, or did Mrs. Cliffe feel the need to say that? Or exactly what?