I'm going to have to go back and find the other cases where LE suspected foul play because a significant amount of time had gone by and the person had not been seen or made contact with anyone, had not accessed their bank accounts or used their phone, etc. Ironically, these aren't even always cases where the day before the person goes missing they are given the number of a "safe place to stay." Ironically, these aren't always cases where the last phone calls a person is making are saying "I'm scared. I'm scared." Ironically, these aren't always cases where everybody and their mother is hiding behind criminal defense attorneys and not speaking with LE.
I snipped to this part because I think what you said bears repeating.
The cases I'm familiar with lately all seem to have one thing different from Gail's case: They were adults who didn't have their car. Not having the car made everyone, even LE, think that this was a serious situation that needed to be addressed immediately. My impression is that people think Gail and the Jeep missing means Gail drove off deliberately and is still in/with that Jeep, hiding out somewhere.
To believe she's just hiding out you'd have to believe that:
1. She has a stash of hidden money somewhere; the money she gave others to hold has not been touched, nor have her accounts. She'd have to use cash for everything.
2. She wouldn't be able to get a job under her real name without alerting people to her whereabouts.
3. She has a new driver's license and/or passport, perhaps with a false identity. Or she's avoiding every single situation where she might need a photo ID.
4. She'd have to rely on disposable cell phones.
5. She probably has a new vehicle and was somehow able to dispose of the Jeep without having the VIN reported by Carfax or any similar agency.
6. She wouldn't contact her kids or her family despite past history of staying in contact with them.
7. Related to #4, she would either have no access to news, or she would be able to ignore what she saw on the news. If she did see the news, she would have seen Arlene, Diane, Susie, etc. all worried about her. She would hear reports that her family cannot talk to the kids without Matt or his representative there, know that K&D filed papers in court, see that people online (primarily the newspaper forums) are saying she's a bad mother for abandoning her kids.
8. She has some way to get her needed prescription meds without drawing attention to herself. If she needed medical help for anything, even something minor, she wouldn't be able to use her insurance or her real name without alerting people to her whereabouts.
And on and on and on. There's a lot of stuff you have to do to disappear completely. It's a lot of work, a lot of preparation, and possibly even black market or grey market activities (fake IDs, under the table jobs, etc). In my opinion, we do not have one scintilla of evidence that Gail engaged in any of that. Not a single speck to indicate she's off in hiding.
ETA: Also, in my opinion, as yet we have not heard a motive for Gail to go into hiding to this extent. Arlene said Gail was scared and in hiding, but her fear alone would not account for her being gone this long. She would have contacted a doctor, LE, lawyer, shelter, etc. by now if it was just fear that caused her to leave.
