I'm leaning toward something like that, where the middle child might have been visiting her father's new family and she was never returned. So, it may not have started out as an abduction, but turned into parental kidnapping when she wasn't brought back. That's why my mind is kind of boggled that her mum or maternal family haven't come looking for her, especially.
The AG said in the press conference that most likely questions were asked by the families and friends of these victims, and they were answered (most likely by the suspect) but not followed up by them. If you haven't watched the press conference from last November, it was really informative and well worth watching. I've watched it a couple of times and picked up on something new each time.
The way I see it, there could possibly be five different families out there looking for them- the woman's family, the middle child's mother's family, and possibly up to three different paternal families looking for their respective child, should all three children have different fathers. The hitch is each one could be looking for a part or combination of the group, instead of the whole group. For example, the woman might have been estranged from her family before the youngest two came along, so they may only be looking for a mother and daughter. The middle girl's family may be looking for her and her father, and may not know about the woman and the other two girls. There could even be an old neighbor who is looking for a mother and her two daughters, and not know that a third girl joined them after they moved away. This is just my take on it all, anyway, fWiw.
