Re phone, I'm not sure gf was provided any phone either (altho, as controlling as dad's reported by some to be that would strike me as somewhat odd). He had only been working the late nite shift for a little over a month. More significantly, I'm skeptical dad even provided gf with any KEY. Not to mention she might not have even had any vehicle to transport children in case of emergency, but the inability to lock either door (from the outside) had she cracked her brain and decided foolishly to leave those children--is KEY to this case IMO.
Remember too, dad's apparent jumping to conclusion re stranger abduction may also have been solely the result of gf's version of events that nite. Dad has two choices. If dad is to believe the gf he entrusted w his children that nite, then Haleigh was safely tucked in at bedtime, present and accounted for, along w the responsible gf he charged w his children's care and safety. OR he can admit to himself that when he allowed this minor, alleged drug user to become his free live-in babysitter he made a possibly fatal error in judgment. So dad's going ballistic about an intruder may simply result from his willingness to accept the only version he's being offered by his gf of four or five months.