jumping off this, ive also never been convinced her mom wasnt concerned about the no show for dinner. just bc she/they waited until thursday morning (including the bf/brothers input about her not responding/getting the car) doesnt mean at dinner she was like "lol wheres mollie but yay, more brats for us"
since le has released so little, i think its possible she actually was concerned why mollie didnt show but at first, was worried it was more emotional (re fight w the bf, wedding drama, class assignment) and at first was prying her brother(s) for info about mollie's mood that day, tried contact her multiple times herself, maybe texted her dad and as the night went on, stated to get more concerned. mollie was an adult partially living w her bf, i can see why a missing report wasnt attempted to be filed within the first 6 - 8 hours, some of which were late evening time. her family may be kicking themselves now but i think its entirely understandable the first official action (we know of) was thursday, imo.
I don't think she was concerned at all.
From what the public has been told, the mother texted her and let her know she could come home to get some dinner. That does not mean the family was going to have a sit-down meal. If their family is like most, in the summers when kids are going different directions, you tend to just have dinner available and they get it when they can between meet-ups with friends, getting off work, etc..
Mollie asked her what the food was, and she said brats.
Mollie responded with nothing but an "OK."
Mollie didn't say she'd be there. As far as we know, no time to eat was identified. I think the "OK" was just an acknowledgement that Mollie knew and understood the invitation and might or might not show up.
When I had kids that age, not living at home but living in town, I sometimes let them know if we had extra food. Sometimes they showed up, sometimes they got a better offer and didn't. It just wasn't a big deal either way - I didn't 'expect' them if they just said "OK" when I told them what we were eating.
My guess is that Mollie's mom had the same reaction and knew she might - or might not - show up. So, her not showing up didn't set off any alarm bells.
Some have said they definitely would've checked in on their daughter if they thought she even *might* come but then didn't. There have been a few statements made that left the impression that perhaps Mollie and her mom sometimes waked on eggshells with each other (clearly, she was close to her dad, the mom's ex, and the brothers have made some public negative comments about family dynamics). That's all rather normal, I think, in divorce situations. I only bring it up to say that if things were sometimes touchy between them, the Mom probably did her best not to play the helicopter part. There's a fine line between being protective and letting your child have independence, and in any familial relationship, parents usually do their best to respect that line. I am guessing the Mom did this with Mollie and wouldn't have nagged her with lots of, "Are you coming? Where are you?" texts.
