LD's life situation seems quite interesting, and I wonder what sense you make of it.
According to arrest reports, he's involved in drug sales, and serious drugs, too. Drug abuse doesn't discriminate based on income or intelligence, of course. But the sale of drugs is odd to me, considering he appears to come from a well-off family with professionally-qualified parents. I suppose if he's also a drug abuser, sales is one of the few "jobs" that fits in with that lifestyle.
Is he desperate to make it big somehow so he can get his own place, or is he satisfied where he is? Is the family secretly in financial trouble and at risk of losing their nice home?
To me, it's a pretty big leap from selling some smack to abducting a human for ransom unless there's serious financial pressure, but anything's possible.