Indeed. I think it’s abundantly clear that there is something afoul, but because she was not without flaw, the pearl clutchers on FB and other similar unmoderated venues are insisiting she ran away, or was the cause of her own disappearance, by daring to go drink a couple of months post-DUI. She may have had substance use disorder, they say (which is of course very possible), so she did this to herself, they insist.
“She walked out of the bar with men, she should have foreseen this! If she would have been home, this NEVER would have happened!” They say.
I think looking at the statistics behind the opioid epidemic would educate them. Its not just junkies in alleyways, it’s not 1971 anymore. It could be the soccer mom sitting next to you at practice, who got hooked after knee surgery. It can be the teenager playing soccer on the field, who stole Dad’s script and now buys them with his Christmas money. It’s the man who works at Walgreens, the attorney who works the possession case, the kids lining the sidesalk on the way into courthouse. It’s everywhere, people, and digging your head firmly into the sand is to your detriment.
The men could be addicts. She could be. Could be, none of them are. We simply don’t have enough data to say they weren’t casual friends, where something went very, very wrong...or complete strangers.
Victims are so often vilified, especially when they’re women. I’m glad Websleuths has stringent rules about that because FB comments make me snarl like a dinosaur.