A lot to think about here..... I guess what's striking to me about the whole 2006-2008 debacle is the degree to which JA's whole "relationship" with TA was not rooted in reality. There is no evidence that they actually went on a "date" kind of a date, no evidence that they had sex with any frequency or passion (despite the sex talk), no evidence that there was anything serious in their relationship, no sign of mutuality, no evidence that she was ever close to being "his girl". Any scaffolding which would have said this was a significant boyfriend/girlfriend connection was all a figment of her imagination, and constructed from lies and manipulations.
While I agree JA "had to make Travis go away" because she couldn't unravel her mind from her fantasies, that doesn't account for the virulence with which she has tried to erase everything he was about. I suppose "erasing" is another method of digging someone out by the roots, but with JA it's never enough. She's as obsessed with destroying his reputation as she was obsessed with him in life. And she will never stop, because without an obsession, she is nothing.
In a slight way, it's like an unwed mother in the old days claiming that her "husband" died in the war, so as to take away her shame. It's not like anyone was about to go checking to see if her story was true, especially if she moved somewhere where eligible young woman were in demand.