I let my mind go somewhere tonight that I'd been trying not to go: what if this had been me? I don't mean trying to see this from anybody's perspective, literally what if this had been me? I live in a small rural community near Brooklyn. I have two teenage daughters, both athletic and attractive. The life we lead is a lot like the life Molly was leading, even our dogs are similar. What if I walked into an empty house and realized my daughter was missing?
But I'm telling you this because I totally understand why Mollie's dad thinks she left with someone she knows. If I walked into my house and realized my daughter was missing under these same circumstances, that's really the only plausible explanation. If the dogs were kenneled it could only be because she put them there, and that would only be because she's leaving. And she would only be leaving with someone she knows and trusts. I'd have no idea who that someone might be and I'd also have no idea why she didn't return. Like Mollie's dad, I wouldn't be able to envision she's missing voluntarily so somebody must be preventing her from calling home. Maybe it really is voluntary, but as her dad he can't wrap his head around that and neither could I.
Mollie's dad isn't saying what he's saying out of hope or desperation, this is really the most likely scenario and the only one that makes sense. He's definitely talking not only to Mollie, but directly to the person she left with. This isn't strategy or mind games, he just wants his daughter back.