I know the freedom you are referring to. With all these stories of safety measures people use, I feel a little reckless because I don't even think about that. It is scary. I would only get in a car with someone I know , but from what many of the locals have said it isn't uncommon to take rides with people, as most everyone knows each other.
I grew up in a town that small where the same could be said but people there then and now would not just take a ride from someone because they knew who they were. I could look at someone and know them, their mama and their daddy and still I would not just get in the car with them, especially if I had another option. I think all of this "getting in the car with him willingly" talk is really beside the point. Runners don't take a ride, they run. If she was in need her mother and/or brother were just a phone call away. This day and age everyone has phone in their hand, even a runner. No need to hop in the car with someone you only know from afar. LE has said that CR and MT did not know each other. I also want to add, as someone from a very small town, we all know that just because we all know everyone does not in any way mean that we trust everyone and would get into a car with them.