kdgirl,
If you went ahead and checked, I'm certain you were able to ascertain that (I believe) all of the other girls missing from the same general area have now been accounted for -- "all", that is, except Alexandria...
The reason, as I understand it, why LE stubbornly refuses to change Ali's status from "Endangered Runaway" to "missing", "abducted" or some other classification more urgent is two-fold: 1) There are no eye-witness accounts or other evidence to suggest she was "taken" (flimsy, yet non-labor intensive, reasoning, IMO), 2) An entry in Ali's diary mentioning running away; however, Ali's parents maintain that entry could have been made as long ago as a couple of years (and what teenager has not contemplated "running away" at some point in their young lives?)
Personally, I believe there is a third reason: There seems to be a pervasive attitude on the part of many people (not only LE but business executives, politicians, judges, district attorneys, etc.) that, once they have rendered a decision on some matter (no matter how untenable the premise for that decision might become), going back and changing it (even in the light of new evidence to the contrary) at any point thereafter makes them appear incompetent and unreliable to others. So it seems many in positions of authority will stubbornly cling to erroneous decisions they made on some matter early on before all of the possible variables were known rather than admit their mistake and take steps to rectify it.
I can well understand, when the initial investigation of this case was underway, how LE could look at Ali's rather, shall we say "artistic mode of personal style", combine that with the diary entry and then issue the classification they did. Anyone might have made that same call...
At some time period, however, after that, they must have learned that Ali was a Girl Scout, a major player on her softball team, a young lady only beginning to experience her first "puppy love type" relationship, from all accounts, a happy, outgoing girl with a talent for art with a generally excellent relationship with her family and friends. Some period of time after THAT, LE would have to have learned about the sudden cease of Ali's copious texting AND her absence from the friend's birthday party that she helped organize.
That is the point where, IMHO, LE SHOULD have gone back and changed the classification. It was done in the Hailey Dunn case and SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE, most definitely IMHO, in Ali's.
This is where I am (as I imagine many others associated with Ali's case on the outside of LE are, as well): Frustrated with LE's stubborn persistence in clinging to an obviously erroneous initial assumption that makes additional resources for finding Ali completely unavailable to her family.
It just makes me want to grab somebody by the shoulders, shake them and shout in their face "Wake UP! Your perceived reputation cannot POSSIBLY be more important in the greater scheme of things than the life of this precious, little girl!"
Sorry for the rant... I get fed up sometimes...
For Ali --
