Been lurking and following along. Trying to keep up on this case and think about her mindset. 2 things have came to mind so far w her.
Imo she did believe the whole fairytale love story from her IG posts. I think he won her over quite awhile ago. The hiding at work seems logical, even with her still being very into him and the relationship. I can recall a few times as a teen when myself or a friend tried to hide a guy we were dating or interested in from one another. Granted, it wasn't a 50 year old teacher, but still we thought our friends might mock us or try to talk us out of it so we played it off or even tried to hide it. One friend in particular started dating this guy our whole group kind of had a running joke about him being a tool for months prior to them dating. She tried to downplay the relationship to all of us, when looking back she clearly really liked him and was trying to live 2 separate lives w him and us. Teens are awkward and don't behave logically often.
Second, I was abused as a young child and had a really skewed view of love and men. I was desperate for love and looked for it in all the wrong places. I latched onto people that clearly did not care about me and then would be devastated when they also abandoned me. Being abused sets you up for a really skewed view on boundaries, relationships, and love. I do not think she will willingly leave him. I do not think she is grossed out by him. I do not think she sees him as a creep/weirdo/predator. I think she sees him as a savior *shudder*. I think she thinks is on an adventure w him. I think she feels very doted on and loved. I have been trying to recall my behavior as a teen and even young adult. I think if the wrong person had groomed me as a teen I could have fallen into this sort of nightmare and ran off w someone with ill intentions toward me. He knew exactly what he was doing w this poor girl. She still doesn't realize what has happened I fear. She thinks she is finally being loved and cherished. This breaks my heart.
I am going to keep following and thinking. I want to get in his mind and figure out his thoughts for the escape. I am leaning towards him having help, but if he googled anything or anyone the FBI would now have those leads I assume. I wonder how many contacts have been investigated on TC so far. This case is so sad.
All MOO.