I'll say this publicly... I absolutely hate this case, and I haven't had it yet but I need a really good, long, hard cry. That will come, when it's time.
Anjelica Marie Hoffer Hadsell aka AJ, did not deserve this (whatever "this") turns out to be. From all accounts, she is (was?) a bright, funny, charming, determined, competitive, athletic girl with a HUGE future ahead of her - despite all the family issues she endured which were no fault of her own.
I don't believe she walked away from her own life. I think apart from the junk at home (and only partial junk, I think she truly admired her mom and adored her little sisters), she had everything going for her and every reason to keep on keepin' on even though college life was hard, she was often cold, way too stinking hungry all the time and just wanted the hard stuff over with (my own 16 yr old has been complaining about the same thing, and she's ridiculously devoted to her own academics as well, so I get it!!)
I know I've been kind of a smart-*advertiser censored** by giving nicks to such people in this case like Smokey Porch Neighbor and Wavy Loved Kid but that's only to help ME keep everyone straight and to infuse a tiny bit of levity into a case that is genuinely heartbreaking. In that vein, AJ is Rock Star Sister/Daughter. I kind of feel like she's become everyone's daughter, niece, sister, neighbor. She seems like the kind of girl we'd all be proud to know, proud to have as our own daughter's friend, and claim as our own. She reminds me of the girls on my own baseball team all the way through junior high and high school.
Someone made AJ go away. Some selfish, lying, brutal, deceptive horrible person took AJ away from her mom, Zach, bio-dad, her sisters, her friends and extended family. Eventually LE is going to find her, and eventually we're all going to feel that punch in the soul when we find out who it was, and how it happened. I just wish for everyone concerned, that "eventually" is sooner than later.
Just had to say that, as I can already feel that need for a hardcore cry coming on.