This doesn't make sense to me. GP's parents wanted GP to fly home when they found out about the altercation with BL, but when they learned that the police were involved, they accepted GP's assurances that she should continue her trip. Wow. I would think they would be even more worried and concerned knowing that LE were involved, and even have one of them fly out there to find out for themselves what was going on. I know that's what I would have done as her parent.
That doesn't make any sense to me either. I don't think I've ever heard a parent say "I knew my child would be in a safe situation because the police were called." I don't understand why the P's would think the Moab police were in a better position to evaluate their daughter's situation than they were.
The officers had never met the couple before. Family spent 2+ weeks with the couple in NY a few months before in June and early July. And even if the P's decided the Moab police should solely determine what to do on Aug 12, it's not as though the family thought G&B would stay in Moab.
The P's may very well believe what they are saying. That if something was wrong or could go wrong in the future, LE should have been able to tell and should have acted to prevent future harm, even weeks or months down the road. (I don't think that's realistic myself.)
But the claim comes across
to me as an attempt to deflect blame that might come their way-- "Of course it's not our fault, we trusted the police" the way parents of a bullied young child might say "of course we trusted the school and the teachers." And if that's what it is, they
may not even know they are deflecting (because they are also deflecting to avoid self-knowledge.) It may also be a self-serving statement so far as the lawsuit goes but that doesn't mean the parents don't consciously believe it.
I don't see how all these things could be true:
1. NS thought the Moab incident involved a meaningless fight tired travelers sometimes have.
2. The P's were so alarmed by the incident they began making plans for GP to fly home to NY & to have her van shipped home so all contact with BL was cut immediately.
3. They then decided-- perhaps within the same fairly short phone call-- the incident was nothing to worry about since the police had been called.
4. When they stopped hearing from GP in late August 2+ weeks after the Moab incident, their first thought was that the couple was traveling in an area without cell coverage. I don't think I'd have thought of
death either-- after all, they'd known BL for
years-- but I might have thought of
jail and for more than one reason. And I'd definitely have thought of jail
if I knew about Moab AND I thought LE would be proactive in jailing people to prevent possible future crimes from occurring.
5. When they later couldn't reach GP
or BL, they've said their first thought was that something had happened to
both of them. But so far as we know, the possibility they were in jail wasn't considered. Why, if they put so much faith in LE to handle their daughter's situation wasn't it considered that maybe LE somewhere had acted and jailed them? I guess it's possible, not likely IMO but possible, NS early on told LE the couple might be in jail but didn't say that publicly?
6. The P's didn't contact police for about 2 weeks after having no contact with GP. I realize GP was an adult. And they wouldn't have wanted to think something was wrong. And I realize it was hard to get LE to act because of jurisdiction issues, but no call was made for
weeks even though up until the last week of August they said they'd been hearing from GP every day or almost every day (per the lawsuit against the L's.) And they knew police had been called because the couple was fighting 2 weeks earlier. Had calls from GP subsequent to the Moab incident convinced them all was well? That it was a meaningless fight? The P's could have talked to GP very privately when BL flew to FL 5 days after the Moab incident (Aug 17-23)
7. There was
apparently no effort made by the P's to discuss the Aug 12 Moab incident with BL's parents right after it happened. That's not weird on its face IMO-- GP & BL were adults after all, not young teenagers--except in the lawsuit against the L's there seems to be an assumption the L's knew every move BL made. And per the current lawsuit, the P's had considered flying GP home and shipping her van home. Seems that would have left BL stranded somewhere out west, something his parents would have wanted to know.
8. Although the lawsuit against the L's claims GP's family had a "cordial" relationship with the L's, it appears no call was made to them until around Sept 10. At that time GP's family thought both GP
and BL were missing and had thought that for many days.
It's all very odd.
JMO
