The family knows they are gone but don’t know what happened to them. More than likely this child was a runaway and they never heard from her again. Happens every day in America.
Now with Pizzagate...well....
In the 1990`s ,police pulled a female body up and identified as a young 18-20 year old, who had been dead for forty years.They finally tracked down her family and asked why they never put in a missing person report..They said she stormed out and said she never wanted to see them or talk to them again..So,they just assumed she still hated them....