I believe Cali was held up at gun point b/c she was being robbed. She turned her pockets inside out to show them she didn't have money or identification. The murderer thought she would squeal on him, so he shot her in the right temple. Just to make sure she was dead, he shot her in the back.
I don't get the feeling she was impoverished, but that her basic needs were neglected. She didn't want to go to the dentist, so her parents never took her. She didn't want to brush her teeth, so her parents never reminded her. This child was not their priority, although they did not physically or sexually abuse her.
I think she wore her clothes b/c she was a tomboy. I find it interesting that her flannel shirt was mostly blue, and her socks and panties were, too. Her necklace coordinated with her outfit, too. I think she planned it that way.
She thought the red jacket was cool, so that's why she wore it.
An earlier post talked about her being a migrant. I also believe this. She may have become separated from her family and was trying to get back to them. Maybe her parents neglected her just enough that she went off on her own sometimes, hitching rides, and then meeting back up with them. When she didn't come back, they figured she didn't want to. OR, they didn't know how to get in touch with her.
I think she had sporadic attendance at school. Her parents never forced her to go to school, so she went when she felt like. I do see her being in school, but sitting in the back of the room, doing some of the classwork, but she didn't strike people as bright or dull.
Anything she did, like frosting her hair, she did on her own. She felt like frosting her hair, so she went and bought the kit. She wanted a tan, so she slathered on baby oil and baked. I believe she made her necklace.
As for the keychain, she bought it because the quote resonated with her and she thought it looked cool. But she was also so independent that wearing the key and the heart meant she was the only one who could open her heart.
I think she was of French Canadian ancestry. Maybe they were Acadians from Louisiana and moved southwest while she was a baby. I also keep getting the feeling that she was connected to the Caledonia region in that her parents were from there.
So, in summary, a teenage migrant girl of French-Canadian ancestry spent time in the American southwest. She travelled around with both parents, who ignored/neglected her. She occasionally attended school. She wasn't close with anyone. She would separate from her parents, but always came back to them.
On the night of her death, she had dinner and hoped to hitch a ride to Boston to be reunited with her parents. She paid for her own dinner, and used whatever was left of her money to tip the waitress. Cali met up with a guy who she thought would get her to Boston. Instead, he transported her or forced her to walk to the field where he demanded she give him money. She turned her pockets inside out to show she had nothing. He was afraid she would turn him into the police, so he shot her point blank. He was pissed at himself for what he had done, so he dragged her body to a place where she would be seen and shot her again. He wanted to make sure she was dead, but also to punish her for making him kill her.
Her parents always knew there was a chance Cali wouldn't come back. They figured that Cali got away from them on Nov. 1979 and was living a better life somewhere else. It never occurred to them to try to find her.
