If I were a driver here is how this would go:
Drop off ML, she’s excited to be meeting someone, maybe even skip walks to their car with a big smile, I think to myself “wow she’s so happy to see that person.” Carry in my way.
DAYS later when interviewed this is what I recall. She was happy and excited to see the person who I never saw and whom’s car I didn’t really focus on. Eye witnesses are super flawed and unreliable. I still say it’s good that the driver stated they weren’t sure instead of trying to guess. I bet the picking up car driver didn’t get out of the vehicle.
IMO but again based on professional experience. Witnesses are very flawed, human recall SUCKS. I bet most of us can’t recall the person who we bought coffee from this morning, let alone a ride in the middle of the night that at the time was one of many normal seeming rides.
Yes, this!
But not just this, also this:
The driver spoke to one or more LE officers. Each LE officer to whom the driver spoke heard what was said and processed it through his/her individual frame of reference. That LE office then probably passed it along to other LE, who each processed the info in his/her own way. Then one of those LE may have summarized what was said to the press. Each member of the press processed it in his/her own way, and then wrote it or spoke it in a written, video, or audio report in his/her own way. Then each person who read or heard a report processed it in his/her own way, and possibly posted it here. And then others processed it in his/her own way. ETCETERA ETCETERA.
If I'm trying to determine facts, any time I read any report, I like to try to go back to the original source if possible. But the original source is not always available. The reporter may have a confidential source, or the document (e.g., witness interview recording) may not be publicly available. But if I don't have the original source, I'm sure to recognize that the original information has likely been distorted in some way - maybe not very significantly but maybe very significantly, and I try to be careful not to make assumptions. Even with the original source material, I focus on the words used, and try to avoid reading in words or making assumptions.
Whisper down the lane isn't just a kids game. It's reality. Everyone's mind perceives and understands information in that person's own unique way.
IMO, too many people get themselves overheated or overexcited or confused by reading in words or things that aren't there, making assumptions, or relying on distorted information.