[bill1952]

First, the car was not "abandoned," it was a relative's car that was parked there.

Second, the car was never searched if nobody even opened the trunk. It was glanced at.

The overriding question that I have is how all of these professionals could have been so stupid as to not look in that trunk on day one.

Come on people! There were missing children, for God's sake, and nobody had the brains to even think that they might have been accidentally trapped in a vehicle parked on their own property?

Turns out the facts are far worse than that.
And I do share your initial suspicions about the father.

[two23]

The other day, Fox news was running this story with a video clip: female officer walked around from the front of a car to the back of the car, casually looked underneath and walked away. It didn't show her opening or looking inside the car, no less the trunk.

[buffyt]

The car was searched, exterior, by bloodhound dogs, if the boys had been there, they would have picked up the scent.

[mabelkitty]

Since he was the biological father, I never thought it was him myself. Very rare.

However, if it was mama's latest boyfriend or new husband, I would have been all over it.

[R. Scott]

The overriding question that I have is how all of these professionals could have been so stupid as to not look in that trunk on day one.

They put too much faith in the dogs.

[SuziQ]

If the dogs were around that car, surely they should have picked up the scent of the boys near the trunk! The kids would have had to stand at the back of the car, and crawl in one at a time, then shut the lid.

If the dogs can follow their scent anywhere, why not up to the trunk? The only thing I can think of is that they didn't get in there of their own accord, but were carried and placed there after the dogs had already searched around the car. Their scent wouldn't be on the ground to follow.

I can't think of any other explanation.

[genefromjersey]

Bill, I think reports say they DID search the car-almost right away.I believe the dogs checked it too.

If the person responsible waited until the search had moved on, then moved the bodies into the already-searched trunk,a very different picture emerges.