My first post in here. I honestly did not know about this case til a few days ago. I followed here several years ago so figured it was the easiest place to “catch up.” Now three days later— I read almost all up til last night when I figured I’d jump in with some thoughts and observations from someone just reading all this. I had so many while reading. Then the thread closed…And here I am….
My impression on them from what I’ve read - high school friends, together a long time, engaged and relativity normal relationship. Not perfect but perfection would be an illusion. No relationship is perfect. They argued and had a physical altercation. It doesn’t seem in their long history that they had a lot of these on record unless I missed that somewhere. The one on their trip seemed she was as much a part of and in that lens DV on both sides. They do seem genuinely happy together in photos. Their body language doesn’t seem like they are faking it. After so long you know how to press buttons and a relationship isn’t always perfect. From 20 years experience, it’s possible to go from what seems like a relationship ending fight to ‘in love’ overnight. The pictures of them overall seem happy and they were referred to as “couple goals” or something like that. They argued and they fought. and it doesn’t make it right, but I can imagine living in a tiny van together would escalate that and little things can get on one another’s nerves quite easily, (especially over a few months).
As a couple committed to life together, finances aren’t his and I’s, but ours. So for him to use her card seems like something they probably have done before or he would have his own separate account. So not alarming. It seems they liked to read books together and to eachother and both (from what I’ve read here), crime/murder was the genre they read. The reading to eachother seems sort of sweet irregardless of the topic. DTBH took the genre as dark on his part but she read them too (someone mentioned a book on her lap she was reading on a serial killer in a SM post). I remember reading they had matching ghost tattoos on their fingers or did I misread? Unconventional symbolism in place of rings? It seems they both had similar interests and she was the more outgoing one. JMO.
There is so many thoughts I had reading through the timeline… bear with me this is long (and please don’t hate me for seeing other perspectives. I can easily see the they are all guilty and his parents horrible humans perspective too).
Could he have returned home by flight to get space? Maybe at the suggestion of his parents. He seems to get bashed for being close to his parents. I have three sons and hope they would call me if in a situation where they need my help even if it meant flying them home and wasting money to help diffuse the situation. Money well spent. When he was home she posted her travel video which expressed the love they had if I read about it right. (I honestly have not watched it because there is a lot to read and a video is edited and like SM a mirage and not necessarily facts. It can be beautiful and well crafted and the sentiment behind it be more in tune than the actual video.) Maybe posting it when she did was in part a gesture to make amends, so he went back. Maybe they planned before the argument for him to go home at some point to sell things in the storage for money for their road trip to continue or weather appropriate clothes for the changing seasons. It all could have been good timing for him to go do that if they needed some alone time and space, she needed to edit with WiFi, he didn’t like sitting around while she did, and he could go get what they needed and she could get some ‘me’ time where she didn’t need to drive the van but would be safe at a hotel and the luxuries it provides and the van would be safe. Seems it was important to them and they wouldn’t want to risk leaving it completely across the country as both return home. If money was a factor for arguing (the restaurant argument with the waitress had an article suggesting it may have been about money), selling things in storage would help with that. All factors combined him leaving then could have made sense at the time. Not all about money but a combination of factors benefiting them both as individuals and together.
It seems she went missing sometime 8/27- 8/29 and he was later picked up by hitchhikers. Where was she and the van? Could they have gotten in another argument after returning to the campsite and he took off on foot leaving her behind. He was said to be seen hitchhiking in the timeline between when her parents last heard from her and when he committed fraud. Maybe he returned to find her dead? Another article I saw today interviewed some other women vanlifers and influencers who have had many scary encounters at the trails. They described sleeping with the keys always close and times they have had to drive off quick because of encounters with creeps at night. (I’ll find the article if need be. It was with the similar stories below a article linked in here) Maybe she thought she heard him return only to realize it wasn’t him, but a stranger. One pair of shoes outside the van (hers or his…. Flip flops seem interchangeable at our house!) and he later picked up by hitchhikers so maybe she was in the van, thought he returned to the campsite and didn’t realize it wasn’t him til she got too close and was already away from the safety of the van. If he found her dead and panicked and took off to get help (he couldn’t call without a phone from there), got thinking how bad it looked on his part, and just more panic and maybe guilt for leaving her out there left for home to the familiar. Another thought was maybe they got in an argument. He took off angry, hitchhiked back, where they decided to break up and end this adventure together. I have read here she didn’t like to drive the van so it would make sense he would be the one to drive it home and to get it there he would need to get gas that led to fraud charges- in either scenario to get her van back he would need gas to drive. Maybe he left her thinking she was okay and going to either continue on with friends or fly home to her parents. Or maybe he thought she found someone else or connected with someone else while he was away and later told his parents that. It seems I read somewhere through all these pages something about her being dressed up on SM while he was away. Maybe I misread. If they broke up, it seems like the last thing she would do would be joining him on the drive back or return to his parents home. If they have been long time friends maybe they agreed he would get the van back since he was the driver. 8/30-31 are the debit card Fraud dates for gas (the timeline page here). He was back in Florida on 9/1. It’s a 35 hour drive from SLC to Tampa FL according to Google maps. From 8/27-29 to 9/17 was over two weeks out in the hot sun, deceased. It seems in two weeks time someone would have found the campsite and her. There were so many sightings in those two days to have none over two weeks. Her stepfather painted a nice picture of the set up and the other campsites in the area were mentioned. How was she not seen by other campers for so long? It was said here, she was in tact (I hate thinking of a person in that sense!) After two weeks in the hot sun with wildlife around it would seem like she would have had to die later than the 27th. Coming across another camper in a camping area wouldn’t seem out of the ordinary a body would. Did they ever say how long she was deceased for? Could he have left her there with no way to communicate and a sketchy stranger came along? He returns home thinking they are done and she is moving on without him and probably angry. Maybe she is having her friend meet her- I think I read they met up with friends before and she was supposed to meet one according to her friend but never showed? So a friend saying she is meeting her and he thinks she is meeting her and leaves but something happens between him leaving and her meeting her friend. He got the van back and thinks they’ll deal with it when he hears from her. In his mind. Her parents calling him may have went ignored because I would think he would realize at that moment how it wasn’t a smart idea to leave her and that once her parents found out he deserted her they would be mad and he may have thought they were angry with him or would be for not making her come home and didn’t want to be the one to say he left her out there. If he heard she was missing at that point guilt for leaving her out there and thinking she would be okay might come into play if it’s someone you loved and were engaged to.
His parents cancel their camping trip when they know he was returning ( what parent would be going on vacation when their adult son is returning home from a broken engagement). They reschedule it for the following weekend where they don’t talk GP because his sister said the kids were around. I know with family members who have had breakups of engagements/ marriages, it’s usually more of an awkwardness when we get together the first few times because you don’t know what to say, whether to bring them up. If, its a breakup and she is just now on an adventure on her own or with friends or a new person, having a family campout a week after he's been home may not be unusual. A family trip would be a distraction and get his mind off the break up and I can see not talking about it if it was viewed as a break up. As a parent whose kids are just starting dating. I know when they broke up and he thought she was dating someone else right away, as a Mom, I didn’t think highly of her. At one point my sons ex had another kid sucker punch him. We tried talking to her parents and it did not go well. Escalated quickly to he said / she said and he/she wouldn't do/say that. Drama. I don’t think parents of ex’s who feel their kids have been hurt by the other really can have a conversation where accusations wouldn’t have been brought up and fingers pointed. JMO. So when her parents called maybe they just didn’t want to get involved in what was a bad breakup and when they heard she was missing maybe they were like she went off with someone else (if that’s their perspective). In their mind her missing is just her off with someone else and not their problem. Their son brought the van home and she made her choices and after he left what she did is on her. They don't, at that time, realize the seriousness of it all. According to timeline, GP Mom called them 9/10 and had the police there later that day for a welfare check. GP father was involved in the police incident on 9/10 it says. Things seem to have escalated quickly from them contacting on 9/10 looking for her to calling and police in a short timeframe. They may not even have got the message before the police showed up. I have 350 messages unread on my phone and am notorious for not getting messages, my ringer still off from at night (it was til right now!), and I never see voicemails til days later. Sometimes my phone automatically goes to message with unknown calls. (Usually about my car warranty!) They are adult children, seem to be free-spirits living out of a van. They hadn’t lived at their house it would seem for months so it isn’t like they live there and never showed or one went missing. I have siblings who they (or I for that matter) wouldn’t know anything to say if something happened to one of us and someone called. My in laws, I’m pretty sure wouldn’t even remember their names after 20 years. On that topic my in laws don’t communicate with my Mom or Dad. They are friendly when they see eachother at get together but I’m not sure they even have the others number. Not all couples families join together too. I don’t know many families that have. In the timeline, GP father said to Martha McCallum in an interview, that they didn’t realize she was gone til 9/11. They hadn’t heard from her since 8/27. That’s two weeks it took to call out of concern. When she last texted her Mom was I think I read 8/27- it must not have been too alarming if they didn’t report her missing for two weeks. Periods of not hearing from her must have been somewhat normal. His parents are questioned to why they didn’t search for adult son after a few days? I also wonder why the father said he didn’t realize til 9/11 when on 9/10 the mother called looking for them, they had police over and the father was involved in that police incident at the house (according to article on timeline). He knew 9/10 something was up so why did he say it wasn’t til 9/11. If he can mix up dates it’s understandable BL parents can mix up when they last saw him. Personally I never know what day it is and wouldn’t be able to say different events without looking at the calendar and thinking. I’m in my early 40’s. When I am his parents age I don’t think I will be any better with dates. His parents did call LE over 9/11, according to timeline they were there three times. So prior to 9/10 they including BL possibly are all thinking they broke up he returned home she is continuing to do her thing. Wouldn’t he have ran between 9/1 and 9/10 and not stuck around if she was dead in his mind? When her parents notified them and they realize the bad breakup actually may be more and it looks bad since their son drove the van home (but if she didn’t like driving it, how else would it get back?). It seems saying here contact my lawyer is what anyone would do because you wouldn’t want to say anything without them. It seems they called a family friend as he doesn’t seem to be well versed in this area and is more acting on the families behalf and calling himself “their lawyer” but is more so a family friend being the spokesperson. In reality he isn’t the lawyer they would need for the gravity of the situation. It seems if they thought their son murdered someone they would have called an appropriately specialized lawyer, not a family friend (who I think I read here, was a lawyer who dealt with transactions). If they think it’s about property theft maybe it’s a ‘close enough’ attorney and some restitution can be made peacefully to account for the credit card transactions. When BL took off again and they found the car at the preserve, to me it seems to be what he does and in his character to retreat and go off on his own. He left GP and hitchhiked in the days before he returned. Maybe it’s not unusual for him to go off and not be heard from. If they thought, well he is upset from his breakup and he left her out there thinking she was okay but turns out she isn’t so he is upset and going off in the solitude of the woods for days isn’t an unusual way for him to deal with his feelings maybe they gave him space. When he isn’t back they go out looking for him to try to get him to come home but aren’t successful so they give it more time. Eventually bring his car home because he doesn’t seem to be coming back anytime soon and call authorities when they don’t hear from him.
I found it odd at first them gardening (and ‘the hand’ freaky!), but most likely they would be talking about what is going on and with reporters and protestors all out front and possibly their house bugged they probably don’t feel comfortable talking in the house. If they are bouncing ‘what if’s’ off eachother going out where they can talk in relative private and it seems they are at ease in nature so outside would be soothing. Its not like they can go for a walk to clear their heads and think.
The sighting of him where he says his gf is out west after they got in a fight and he is trying to get to her. If when he realized she was missing he started feeling guilty for abandoning her maybe this is his reality having gone off to think about where she is and what happened to her but also realizing it looks bad that he returned without her. He didn’t return and try to run away til the family found out she was missing and contacted him. If that’s when he realized this wasn’t just a break up and her off doing her thing it would be shocking to all involved. Seems the other scenario would of had him hiding from ever returning on 8/31 or from sticking around from 9/1 to 9/10-11.
The Dad going to the nature preserve to help seems like they know he is in there. Seeing the father walk to his truck he looked solemn didn’t look angry, just sad and lifeless to me. I see he was caught laughing with flaw enforcement. Maybe the LE was trying to make him feel at ease and made a joke. They are out there searching for what could very likely be his dead son I imagine it’s a bit uncomfortable feeling and human nature would be to try to throw something in to ease the tensions. It’s also a photo of a glimpse of time. They could have been recalling a good memory and snap a photo taken. If he was out there to ID a characteristic of a campsite a photo would have sufficed. Whether he is alive after all this time would have to mean he is good at surviving and if distraught that would be a distraction to survival. Being they were looking around without protection seems they don’t see him as a threat to them and more he needs verbal consoling to come out. When the father moved his truck I thought maybe the police wanted it in a spot BL may beable to visualize it, if they thought it might get him to see his Dad there and not feel threatened but instead a safe person. It’s the only reason I can see moving it or having him there especially with no other activity and such a mundane vehicle. Open air maybe due to Covid or maybe because it is a vehicle that is not a police vehicle that could be perceived as a threat .
Are they actually an evil monstrous family hiding their murderer sociopath of a son? Maybe. It’s easy to see where he is guilty and they are covering for him and it’s all is malicious. But IMO all has logical explanations to the course it took. I can see the perspective where a bad breakup with ill conceived ideas about it, hurt feelings, resentment, some childish behavior in the name of love (parents anger about breakup), and one thing leading to another and things lined up to appear one way and it’s a combination of mistakes and misconceptions to the point where it looks like they didn’t do anything to help, when in their perspective maybe they weren’t in the mindset or position to. The lawyers odd character seems like he isn’t actually the lawyer but a family friend who happens to be a lawyer.
There are so many unknowns. I’m sure LE’s aware of more facts, but that’s for them to know and not share, til if and / or when the time is right. Hopefully they get it all figured out soon. Hopefully if BL is dead, he was guilty, because otherwise that would mean two families lost their kids. If one was a bad person it would be a little easier it would seem. It also means that if he didn’t there is another person out there hurting campers and others could be in danger in those areas.
All JMO on a complete outsider just reading up on all this long after the fact. Not having followed from the beginning I am probably missing a lot but also am not emotionally involved at all having no time to form opinions between pieces of info.
