[Devil_Anse]

I'm with you, on whether I would at least try to help a frantic neighbor whose child was missing. I could see people going around in groups--it might make them feel safer, anyway. I can also see people not wanting to be remembered as the one who retreated into their home and ignored the Smarts' plight. I mean, those who felt less like Rambo might at least have tried to show their concern by walking around in the lighted areas of the neighborhood!

There's also the matter of adenalin. Ordinary people are capable of all sorts of things when the adrenalin is flowing. So often we see people on the news who say, "I realize now that I did a risky thing...I must have been crazy, but I was excited...All I thought of was saving the person's life..."

[freedox]

How would you explain the police allowing people to continue to roam about when there were reports of an armed gunman?

[Neenah]

I can also see people not wanting to be remembered as the one who retreated into their home and ignored the Smarts' plight.

How long do you think it would take if you were in a panic state, after running to warn your neighbors of the kidnapping at gunpoint, to come back to your house, breathless, and pick up the phone and call 40 - 50 people? Or do they call one person, and that person calls the other person?

I would love to listen to the testemony of some of these 40 - 50 people about the phone call, and what was said. That is going to be interesting if it comes to trial.