I’ve posted plenty about why I never believed the wandered off theory, so I won’t rehash all of that again. It always felt wrong to me, and I’ve said that consistently from the start. What we’re seeing now doesn’t surprise me, even if it’s grim.
What I keep trying to do is put myself in the position of the person who knows the truth.
And I can’t get there.
I can imagine panic. I can imagine an accident or negligence. I can imagine that first moment where you realise something has gone terribly wrong and your brain is racing. But I keep hitting the same wall.
What could I have done that would make deceiving everyone feel like the better option?
Because this isn’t passive. This isn’t freezing up. This is an active choice made over and over again. Letting a massive search run. Letting people hope. Letting police, volunteers, neighbours waste time and energy while you know the truth. That’s not a single bad decision. That’s sustained behaviour.
So what does the truth look like in your mind if this feels preferable?
If it was an accident or negligence, owning up is horrific but it’s finite. Charges. Consequences. Public shame. But a cover up like this suggests something more. Something that makes the original truth feel completely unlivable. Something that turns this was a terrible accident into everything ends if this comes out.
Intoxication. Prior incidents. Serious negligence. Risk of other children being taken. Something about the circumstances that makes the truth indefensible even to yourself.
I’m not talking about cartoon evil. I’m talking about a person who decides that lying, wasting resources, and allowing false hope is acceptable because the alternative feels worse.
That’s the part I can’t get past.
So I’m genuinely asking others here, not for theories about who, and not for timelines or mechanics.
What kind of persn does this?
And what could they believe they were responsible for that justifies all of it?
Because whatever that answer is, it explains far more than the wandered off story ever did.