I can totally see Cali probably dropping out with her family's blessings, not even having to have been necessarily kicked out. I can imagine her just being neglected or allowed to do whatever she wanted, and likely having come from a low-income family. The lack of dental care, and as the autopsy report states, probable lack of any medical care during her life, also points to having been neglected, or coming from a low-income family, or a large family, or any combination of those things.
All that leads me to wonder if she hadn't just dropped out of high school and started travelling the summer and fall just before she was killed. The pollens found on her could have represented a place or places that she'd just been visiting during the summer and early fall, and perhaps she'd been travelling with a different purpose since the beginning of fall, and had made it to Caledonia from whatever warm, sunny place far away, by November, having possibly hitchhiked. Maybe she was travelling to find work, or maybe she was employed in some transient way in the area. She also could have been visiting the nearby racetrack, or looking for work and seeing a race; either of those things could be supported by the way she was dressed and what was found in her stomach.
Even if she was just wearing whatever was practical and available to her, like second-hand clothes, she could have also been arming herself in a way, not dressing too feminine so that she wouldn't be noticed and hassled by men while she was alone, meeting strangers in places unknown to her. She was wearing "earthy" shoes, a boy's plaid shirt and the oversized racing jacket, which I think belonged to the guy who killed her. I remember reading about unidentified girls from the '70s who were found in wooded areas, in skintight dresses and high heels or platforms/wedges...so many of them. It's practical for travelling, working, and protecting yourself, to dress as she was dressed; it also makes sense if she was just very low on money.
Cali could have just been a "tom boy", too, or her dress could have been reflective of where she was from and what kind of family and friends she had. I think she was beautiful, though. In the autopsy report, the measurements and descriptions of her physical features and stature also lead me to believe that people she met could have easily been attracted to her, even if she wasn't super feminine-looking. Maybe she was killed after rejecting some guy's advances, and asking to leave his car or truck, and then he just shot her, dragged her a few feet off the road and shot her again to make sure she was gone.
All of this also makes me wonder if she has siblings. Given what I just imagined about her background, it would make the most sense to me if she had several siblings. She could have also been the child of very young or unprepared parents, or a single mom. Or deceased parents, or even extended family who cared for her. Regardless, I think it would make a lot of sense if she had siblings. In my experience, parents with several kids tend to be much more lax with how much freedom they allow their children. But if it was a larger family with lax rules or unclear expectations for their kids, OR a young or single mother with just her, she would have been searched for by her family if she stopped communicating and never came home, I think, even if they let her do whatever she wanted. So maybe there was a falling out or a bad relationship there, and whoever was left having known her could have died already.
Just my very long and rambling 2 cents! :coffeews:
when i first started looking at unidentified people, i was totally bewildered by how many children of all ages are found and remain unidentified. makes me wonder where the social workers were, at least for very young children. i mean, haven't close tabs always been kept on elementary-aged kids, at least?
