I just recently saw the show Disappeared featuring this family. Several things were not covered in the show that I was curious about.
1. I would have liked to see more footage of the family going back and forth to their vehicle on the day they were leaving due to questions the video raised. The small amount the show exposed left more questions than answers.
a. Were they carrying items each time to and from the truck? How much stuff does one family need to go on a day trip to see some land?
b. Could they have been waiting on a call or for someone to show up, perhaps to follow them? AFter waiting awhile, they may have went on, perhaps meeting that person somewhere else down the road?
2. No or little mention was made of the person that supposedly had the land for sale. Was it really for sale? Was it just a bogus offer to sell to lure them there, or perhaps to swindle them out of money? How much was the land advertised to sell for? Who actually owned the land? Do we even know what piece of land it was? Did law enforcement check local papers for ads that had land for sale in the area around this time...or even since? Could be a land scheme.
If I had to guess, I would say that the family was either meeting someone there to show them the land, or met someone on the way. Even if it was more than just the guy that gave them directions.
Clearly the motive was not robbery and someone left in a hurry, or they would have rummaged through the truck and taken the cell phone, purse, and found the money hidden under the seat. The only 2 motives I can think of is 1: if it was a meth user, they tend to be paranoid, but would also be greedy for anything they could sell. They may have thought the person in the truck was law enforcement and saw something they should not have. Meth addicts have killed for far less reasons.
2. The saddest possibility is that the target was the little girl. My guess would be the parents were killed and the child was taken and may still be alive. If indeed many people hide out in the hills, it would only take one lonely sexual offender to get fixated on the little girl and take her to be his.
It seems likely to me that the person is obviously from the area. Close enough that they ran into the family or somehow noticed them in the area. It probably was not just some random person, but someone that lives directly near where they were found.
I could totally see the possibility that the parents saved this money (legally or illegally) and had hoped to make a deal with the person for the land, perhaps a down payment, or simply offer them a cash deal in order to get the land cheaper. The person that "took" them was unaware of this, or they would have grabbed the cash. No one is going to risk taking/killing a family and not take money, unless the motive was more evil.
Could it be that the couple was wigging out on not having meth and in their delusional state thought they could go to the mountain and buy a large quantity? If it was a drug deal gone bad, the person there to meet they would certainly have taken anything of value from the truck, especially if they thought the couple would have money to pay for drugs.
I hope Im wrong, but I would not be surprised if the parents are deceased and buried on the mountain and the child is still alive and will turn up some day, perhaps unaware of who she really is. Age progression and a massive home to home search may be the answer. If they really are "hill people" they are probably living without modern conveniences, such as water and electricity.
I disagree about the little girls picture on the cell phone being taken by someone else....at least the parents were there. It is reminiscent of pictures taken of children with missing front teeth and the picture taker asking the child to show her front teeth. She looked totally casual and unafraid in that picture to me.
God bless the family and those that loved these people.
