I lit a candle here for Anna and the search for the truth of her whereabouts. My heart goes out to Annasmom and Anna's brothers and their extended family in this time of TGIDNK ("The-Great-I-Do-Not-Know," as coined by Annasmom many years ago.)
As for the creek that day, I remember it was like a raging river the color of chocolate milk. At one point, while standing on the bridge that led over to the horse barns and chicken coop, Annasmom told me something a neighbor (Bud) said to her about looking at a swollen river or stream, that the rush of the water is hypnotic and that even an adult can be sucked in, to always be aware and to hold on tight to the railing. So, thinking on that, imagine a 5-year-old gazing into the flooding creek...
For all these many years since little Anna disappeared, I've pretty much always felt that she was picked up on the road that afternoon, and didn't go down to the creek to check on Hulkie the rooster's demise. Especially since professional divers, Annasbro, Joe, and all the search parties found no sign of her, no clothing, nothing to indicate she'd been in the creek at all.
But now, I'm not so sure, now that we know partial remains were found so close to where Purisima Creek meets the ocean. I now wonder, if on that day, she'd been picked up on the road by the mailboxes, and then later was able to escape and ran into a field and perhaps fell into the creek further down the road. Or, that she did fall into the creek up at the farm, and was hidden in the tangles for months or years and a subsequent flooding released her. We can speculate forever, and we will never know what exactly happened. We just don't know.
On the other hand, it's hard to imagine something as small as a jaw fragment surviving thirty-some years in the ocean's tides and storms and still remaining in close proximity to the spill-out of Purisima Creek into the ocean. Couldn't the bone have arrived from anywhere?
I just can't wrap my head around these new developments, and the heart-breaking devastation reaped upon the family yet again. I hope Anna someday will be found. Or that dna can somehow tell us what we need to know for closure.
Hugs to all for your amazing work in sleuthing.
~suza