I agree but I wanted to add a few things. Like many, I was an excellent student, the apple of my dad's eye, and I did many things they knew (thankfully) nothing about. I made a lot of trips across the country seeing the Dead, and had friends from all walks of life. I, and some of those friends, experimented with drugs, and my best friend and roomie in college, now a respectable lawyer, had a heroin problem you'd never have suspected. I preferred stimulants. Either way, no track marks and no one knew (I didn't know about my bff, and I'm not naive, nor was I then).
I never partied with strangers, early on, because I knew you couldn't trust what might happen or what they might slip you. Over time, I was less cautious. Friends owned a club called Wetlands in the City. One night, a really creepy guy we knew as Rockman offered me a joint. I ended up spending the night locked in a bathroom stall. I couldn't see, literally, and while I didn't know what was happening, I knew I couldn't leave that bathroom. I have no idea what it was (pcp?) but it was bad as I am sure his intentions were. It reminded me how dangerous the world could be. I look back often, and am amazed that my disregard for safety or even simple thought didn't get me killed.
Another friend in VA was not so lucky. I think she was working as a dancer, early 90s, and one night, her birthday, she went back to the apartment of strangers (some guys and girls). They asked if she wanted to do a line of coke for her birthday, and she did. Except it wasn't coke, but heroin, and she'd done a big line. When they had her drugged, they (all) raped her. I guess they got into a car, which crashed as she fought. I recall finding reports in the paper after she told me (I was horrified after the call and didn't want to believe what I had heard). I insisted that she report it, but I'm not sure she did. We drifted apart after that, her living so far away, and me having moved on to a different life. I was worried, too, that she'd end up dead. (I looked her up on FB a while ago and was happy to see that her profile says she's married, and a parent, so I guess she made it!)
The point is, that sort of innocent risk may have been what happened. It doesn't make Valerie a bad person, nor is she different than many people at that age. The guy may not have tried to trick her, but he sure didn't help her when she needed it. Any of those people who told him to get her help are just as guilty. Her dad said that he knew his daughter made mistakes and hoped people would learn from this. Stranger danger doesn't end with childhood. It's more important the older one gets, because more choices are presented, not all good, and things like drinking impair judgement. I feel for her family, and the waste of the years Valerie lost. Ultimately, whatever the circumstances, accident or not, trusting a stranger is what it comes down to, with a senseless, tragic result.
