I don't see how she could have been "lost" for all that time, although some here from the area say it's possible. But for 4-5 hours??? In any case, the grandfather had said in an interview that she had been to Castle Rock (where the step-father lives) recently .... IIRC about 2 weeks ago? RS has never mentioned that as far as I know. The step-sister says she was looking forward to their visit, so it seems they were expecting her.
I don't think Shantina had seen her step-family in awhile, as I remember reading a comment by her step-sister recently where she said she was looking forward to reuniting with her (or something to that effect).
Nevertheless, I find it hard to believe she was truly "lost" in Olympia for that amount of time, especially after stopping at 2 different locations (the convenience store where she looked at the map & the Williams' house) asking for directions.
If you're lost in an unfamiliar city, you stay on the main roads - you don't keep driving further & further back into what was obviously a remote area. You turn around & go back the way you came until you come to a main road again. Common sense, to me at least.
I've taken dozens of road trips to places I've never been before & the few times I've gotten lost, that's the strategy I followed. Heck - I've gotten lost in my own city (in unfamiliar neighborhoods) once or twice, and it didn't take me long to get back on track again.
As I've posted before, I-5 is relatively easy to get to from Silverdale to Olympia. I've driven through there several times over the years & I've never gotten lost.
The thought occurred to me: what if she wasn't really trying to find I-5? What if she was really trying to find that beach where they ended up?
Also about the tides - anyone in the area with even a rudimentary knowledge of tides would know better than to park that close to the water at low tide. If she didn't intend to drive down onto the beach that far & got stuck in the sand before she could get back up to higher ground, then the same applies - she would more than likely have known that at some point in the next 12 hours the tide would rise and it wouldn't be a good idea to stay in the car.
Since she & her son & fiance were involved in scouts, I'm assuming they had at least a basic knowledge of tides.
And I agree with everyone who says that driving around Olympia lost for that length of time is hard to swallow.
To me, that's the most puzzling part of this whole tragedy.