I think the offender was self-aware enough to know that they're not normal, and, had received objective criticism about how they come across from those around him. But, it wasn't taken well and simply added to their own self-loathing. I originally was thinking maybe the girls were aware enough of his presence where maybe they strategically thought 'let's abruptly take this hard left at the fork to see if he follows..." But it appears there's really not a whole lot of forks. It seems like it's kind of a straight shot, no? I am guessing he likely left them alone, and, may have only encountered once, face-to-face, if at all. I don't think he just kept popping up, but, was perhaps a super weird guy with his attire, demeanor, and perspiration? And, then just appeared once he knew they were effectively cornered? I had some weird encounters, like many of us, as a kid. I never liked being in secluded places for reasons such as this. But, I always let my guard down when I had a close friend nearby. My intuition kicks in sometimes, and I can't help but trying to put myself in their shoes. As a kid, I went with a group of friends up to Maine to party. We were all reasonable fit males, but something I had forgotten about recently reentered my consciousness. A group of yokels in a pickup drove past us while we were on foot, and they screamed at us in an attempt to frighten us. A friend of mine, drunk, decided to yell something wise back. Immediately, you heard screeching brakes and they changed directions to follow us. We immediately ran. We were near a lake, as we were staying in a cabin about 1 mile away. They followed us, speeding up dangerously close, as if to run us over. We ended up hiding in someone's yard along the waterfront. We kind of split up, and a friend and I stayed together, trying to inch our way back to our home base without arousing attention. We hid near cove on the water, and, these $$%%^ actually go out of their pickup, and waded thru the water in attempt to sneak up behind us. I was much fitter and faster than my friend, but, he urged me to leave him there and make it back safely. I refused to leave him there. We ended up staying there for nearly an hour until we felt it was safe. We were 180 lb males, but we would've had problems against these much bigger and older adults. It made me think of these poor girls, and, how honorable and courageous they were to stick together facing such unimaginable evil. Let's catch this .