Do you ever think about how the R's would behave if JBR was actually kidnapped by an intruder? Just think about how much money, resources, and effort they put into defending themselves, and imagine all of that being used to actually find their daughter/her killer. For most missing kids, you're at the mercy of LE, with how much effort they put into the case. But when you have the amount of $$ that the R's had, they can pretty much pay for your own investigation. They could hire world-class searchers, investigators, get very prominent people involved in the case, etc. They could pay for searches anywhere at anytime. They could buy advertising space in newspapers or on TV. As much attention as JBR's case received, I think if she had really being kidnapped or killed by an intruder, it would've been on a whole other level.[/QUOTE]
Your thoughts gave me pause. There were some well known remarks made by JR over the years about his concern for how much money Patsy was spending and by him with reference to how much money he gave up for the case - and in the early years, even resented it. He even kept his own ledger sheet at home in his desk of his accounts so he could admire....ahem, monitor.....it regularly in private.
Of course, now that he's living a more "secluded" lifestyle, pursuing his spiritual growth through a missionary based outreach into intercontinental areas, he realizes having a couple of planes, a few boats and multiple houses are just no longer his stamp of success. So he says in TOSOS.
Back to point of post: Do you suppose the consideration of how much cost might have had to go into what could have ended up being weeks of discovery for looking for a dumped body played into the decision to call police and get it over with?? How would it have looked, just as you observed, to the public if such a wealthy family did not pull out all the stops and spend whatever it took to locate their daughter? They would have had to spend, spend, spend.
Now, they did spend plenty in the early months for legal protection, but their other expenditures related to rewards, etc. were always considered minimal compared to their means. Even the ransom demand amount was minimal in comparison. Frugality all around, except for what was necessary for personal protection.
I hate to keep harping, but John Ramsey gave plenty of disclosures about being taught to work hard, value his money, and yet demonstrated his desire for spending for himself on top of the line vehicles - even in college - for his big boy toys (including lovers during first marriage).
