Ghostwheel
Pyrrhonist
I'm not saying this happened, but then it is not beyond the realm of possibility that he could have had to bring gas for the car to get it home or that it had very little gas in it (Father's home was only 8 miles away, I think)?Car was driven to fathers home. So, must have had fuel in it.
I only ask because I have had to do this, go get a car that turned out to have just enough gas to get me to the station. (Drunk friend got a ride home with someone else, too hung over to drive, I went for the car left behind)
If there was very little gas in the car, that could explain why it wasn't dropped further away, assuming HE did not leave it there. If it was out of gas (say HE drove there not realizing it was almost empty), that would explain why she might have taken her purse and phone (possibly already dead phone), and walked away from the car. If the phone was dead, she could not call for help, but would have to walk to the nearest civilization at sometime after 2:00 am. Again, thinking out loud, and wondering where to search.