Reviewed, but still catching up. You WSers are a steady bunch, as the facts pour out like a smoothie out of blender, in trying to find gorgeous, smart and sporty AJ. Thank you for your great considerations.
If I'm reading it right, Ontario Mom's emphasis on the last contact AJ had on her phone, prior to the 7 am time she was last reported to have been seen by her family members, does really stick out. 10 pm the night before, does stick out, but there could be innocuous explanations.
"She was last see between the evening hours of March 2, and the morning hours of March 3." Sjm_qc LE Query
Her step-dad, I realize is grasping at straws, naturally, as I would too if my kid were missing, yet led an effort that actually found evidence. I'm trying to keep an open mind and not to be blind to the truth of where AJ may be, and hope LE has a lot more information as they proceed. As such, I'm not able to overlook my quibble with the intent of AJ's step-dad's out reach. He seems, even after the most uncritical ways of looking at how things played, to me, to be misdirecting, lashing out, probing and con-temporizing his statements as the days move on. That confuses things.
For example:
At this point, it seems the amount of money he spoke of having been given to AJ, $200, along with the $100 she was given the week before, may be a contemporization, or streamlining the timeline to fit, if you will, to lead one to think she may have run away. I'm not sure why as to the intent of this, and LE hasn't treated this like a run-away case, it seems to me. I hope I'm wrong and AJ is taking some time someplace safe, alive at least.
The debit card in pieces; step dad's account of the handing out "some cash;" the lack of SM the night prior; the lack of anyone having seen her after 7 am, at first; then, when you consider that LE knows of the step dad and AJ's exchange at the gas station, and his account of handing out "some cash" as well, says something.
This scenario is starting to seem plausible to me, AJ may have had her phone and access to cash restricted, maybe some brewing argument that came to a head, cards were cut up (maybe thrown out later), phones were shut off, ultimatums may have been spoken, silence and anger, I'm making wild guesses. It shouldn't be so. AJ's family want to find her, so it would help if AJ's dad, their spokesman, came off as trust-worthy and not suspicious. I hope that can change for her sake.