I've met plenty of "overprotective" parents. I haven't heard of parents having access to contacts. Is anyone familiar with this? Could the father read any conversation, or just initiate conversations remotely?
I find it odd that none of Lexi's coworkers noticed she was missing. They aren't there to babysit, but surely they'd be conscious of the newly turned 16 year old working at the cash register, no? All that time passes. No employee at any time before 4 AM says "where's Lexi?" or sees her belongings. Who closed the restaurant? It seems strange to me that her dad ultimately ended up texting the boss and that is how he found out. She worked at the cash register. I just can't imagine that no one said "where's Lexi?" at some point before her dad had to check dumpsters to find her. Need more information quickly so we can find this girl. The weather conditions are not helping. A still photograph of the vehicle Lexi got into would go a long way. I know her father said people are looking at cameras. Seems to me something that would take a few hours, not a week.
I don't view her father as over-protective. In the olden days, when phones were attached to wires in the house, there was nothing unusual about parents knowing the names, including last names, and phone numbers of their children's friends. This was for safety reasons and to make life easier when parents needed to quickly get in touch with children who were visiting friends.
Her father probably paid the phone bill, so he should have access to contact numbers and other basic information.
The most important lesson that teenagers have to learn is that they can have their independence, but with it comes responsibility. If they cannot be responsible, they cannot have their independence. It takes time for this to sink in, and it is painful for teenagers, but eventually they get it.
My impression is that Alexis is stuck at this point. She wants independence, but is not responsible. That absence of responsibility could have placed her at risk with dangerous people.
The restaurant closed at 11:30 PM. It was 4 AM when her father noticed that she was not at home. Depending on lighting and camera angles, it's one thing to locate the dark vehicle on camera, another to identify it, and something else to track where it went after leaving the alley. With the snow storm, her apparent voluntary disappearance would be low priority.