Her actions leading up to her disappearence are bizarre. I understand wanting to get away and be alone but from what I can tell that was not something she typically did and why would she do it then in her rickety car she was having all kinds of problems with - that points to desparation IMO. I wonder if she was pregnant. Reading the article I had a flash of the birth control pills and alcohol and wondered if she hadn't planned on trying to make herself mis-carry the baby instead of having to go through an abortion, telling her family, etc. In 2004 the morning after pills and 'abortion' pills were not as readily available as they are now. Perhaps she planned on staying in a secluded place for a few days and basically abuse her body in an attempt to lose the baby. It sounds crazy but woman do 'crazy' things when faced with situations like unwanted pregnancy. She was definitely preparing to go somewhere which surely did not work in her favor as far as LE is concerned. They too quickly thought of her as someone who wanted to vanish but after all this time, surely not.
I don't want to say this couldn't have happened because it could have but the morning after pill as well as private abortion services are extremely available at UMass and in the surrounding area, even back in 2004 (I was a student in the area at this time). In fact we even had a nickname for the lineup of women in front of the health services center at UMass on Saturday morning for the morning after pill.