Why would a 12 year old girl have a 9:30 pm curfew when darkness is falling between 7 and 7:30 pm at this time of year? Do parents these days not realize the dangers that can befall their children--especially to a young girl who looks older than her age?
Our world has changed so much since I was a girl her age. Back in those days it was not unusual for us to be out alone--but even then we had to be in the house within 5 minutes of the street lights coming on in the evenings, no matter what time that happened to occur.
There is no way that I would ever allow a child or grandchild of mine to be out even after dusk, much less 2 hours after darkness has overtaken the autumn skies. I have a small puppy that gets his last walk of the day at around 7:30 and it is already quite dark at that time--dark enough that I will not go farther than the front of my apartment building with him, and I am well-armed.
I do see children out playing in our complex sometimes until 8 or 8:30 pm, but it is against our complex rules--we have a 7pm curfew that some people do not heed. I do report these children to management upon learning who their parents are--I would never be able to forgive myself if one of those children went missing when I could have done something, anything, to prevent their vulnerability.
I pray that this young girl, Autumn, is found safe very soon.