I see that picture and it cements in my mind that Caleigh went into the water. It is just so much more likely then an abduction. That landscape is just as treacherous for two toddlers standing alone, as for a perpetrator attempting to move quickly while holding an abducted three year old. In other words, how quickly could "he" have moved, holding a just-grabbed (and possibly struggling) little girl. Not fast enough to get away without being seen. The rocks, water and bridge all appear to be difficult to maneuver even while moving slowly...
I have been keeping tabs on this case from the beginning, when Caleigh's picture showed up in my FB newsfeed (we have mutual family friends). At first, I was ready to doubt mom, but now I just think she made a horrible, stupid error in judgement. When I think back to how I originally felt, I can trace my feelings to two causes:
1. The desire to believe that a child cannot disappear forever in just a moment of distraction. As a fellow mom of a toddler, this thought is just too scary to handle.
2. Mom's initial FB postings. Just hours after Caleigh disappeared, she posted on FB. This seemed odd and suspicious to me, bc I think I would still be pacing the shoreline or in a fetal position somewhere. I have since come to the conclusion that different people react differently to grief and that FB has become our society's touchstone for social interaction (however much that annoys me). I cannot judge her based solely on this...
Other than those two thoughts, there is nothing that, in my mind, that could lead one to think mom had anything to do with this. All the family's talk about abduction now is just "wishful thinking" (if you could call it that...). And, I think that mom's bland response to the notion of kidnapping is bc she was there and she knows deep down her baby is gone. She will have to live the rest of her life with the knowledge that her actions caused her baby's death. And, as another mom, that breaks my heart, bc while what she did is not something I think I would do, I am sure I have done other stupid things while parenting, any one of which could have lasting effects.
All jmo...