"I wonder if it's not much more sinister."
You wonder? In post 725 you sound like you have it all figured out. Are you privy to some inside info or something?
I didn't know before the parents hired a PR firm. I can't imagine what good reason there'd be for doing that ---I'd put my money into hiring a good detective if it was my kid missing ---but then I'd have told the whole truth from the beginning to help my kid be found. The PR firm is for themselves obviously. Pretty strange.