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My suspicion is along the same lines as yours,but with some differences.

One thing that I know about girls this age is that they scream. They seem to always be screaming -- over anything and everything and nothing. I cannot imagine that a stranger would come into these girls' bedroom with a gun and that there would not be lots of screaming. I also cannot believe that the nine year old would have sat there for as long as she says that she did before going tell her parents. I'm not buying that for a minute.

Instead of thinking that the facts point to an intruder who in the girls' mind had greater authority than their parents, I think that these facts point to the conclusion that Elizabeth was not taken against her will. She is almost certainly being held against her will (I am being an optimist here), but I cannot accept the common assumption that she was taken against her will.

I think that she "sneaked out," a time-honored tradition engaged in by teenagers for generations and especially among children of very strict parents. Except that here, something went terribly wrong, and Elizabeth didn't come back.

If this scenario is correct, then Elizabeth probably left much earlier than the younger sister has stated. That, and the fact that it wasn't a forced taking, could explain why there have been entirely no clues.

What probably happened is that the younger girl woke up and discovered that Elizabeth had been gone far longer than planned. She then made up this story to tell her parents.

I am not blaming Elizabeth for what has happened to her or trashing her. I am just saying that the story as told by the sister just does not add up, and it does not help the search for Elizabeth to proceed on a flawed assumption of how and when she came to be missing.

This might be too optimistic, but perhaps she did sneak off with some guy, and after sneaking out, they fell asleep, woke up late, and she is too ashamed and afraid to come back and face the music. Especialy with all the media attention and everything.

The police have ruled out her being a runaway though.

"Instead of thinking that the facts point to an intruder who in the girls' mind had greater authority than their parents, I think that these facts point to the conclusion that Elizabeth was not taken against her will."

I allow that your theory IS consistent with elements of mine - and I agree with you that it's almost certain that she departed the room of her "own volition," while not necessarily of her own "free will."

I can see her leaving the house for some reason, but I'm not seeing it as any kind of "hooking up" with a boy. Either we're being shown some very old photos and videos of this 14-year old (taken when she was very much younger) or the Light Of Awakening has not yet been turned on in her body. She still appears angelic and pre-pubescent, a tremendous rarity for a 14-year-old in this day and age. If she was, indeed, still pre-pubescent, then she wouldn't be sneaking away for sex because her body wouldn't be interested in it yet. So what else would she want to do that parental disapproval of it would force her to sneak out in order to indulge in it? Pot? Doesn't look likely.

One thing's for sure - what happened after she left the room is NOT what she THOUGHT was going to happen, or she would not have gone either willingly OR of her own volition. And you're right about young girls - they do tend to have juvenile reflexive responses (screaming, gigling, etc.) out of proportion to the stumuli that causes them. The absence of that and the rote repetition of the 9-year-old's story doesn't add up, either. It just doesn't fit the age group.

I'll stick to the idea that the POH-leece know more than they're saying. And this case is looking worse and worse by the hour.

Michael

"One thing that I know about girls this age is that they scream. They seem to always be screaming -- over anything and everything and nothing. I cannot imagine that a stranger would come into these girls' bedroom with a gun and that there would not be lots of screaming."

I don't think the three girls in Polly Klass's bedroom "Screamed" when she was abducted, and we know what happened there. Therefore, why is this case any different? Because a terrified 9 year old did not run to her parents room the second the armed man closed the door? Do we really know 2 hours passed, or is it just how much time she thinks has past? Was it actually a lot shorter period?

With the absence of any information to the contrary, the only public facts say it was a stranger abduction. He may have stalked her, maybe for weeks or months, we just don’t know. If he did stalk her, then its very possible that he entered the house before, as a prospective buyer, a tradesman of some sort, or even when no one was home.

I do admit it is strange that he didn’t at least tie the younger girl up, but, he may have panicked, I guess she is lucky she wasn’t strangled or bludgeoned to death. In short, I’m cutting the 9 year old a break, and unless facts to the contrary come up, I am choosing to believe her story.

Assuming the detectives involved are not complete idiots, I think it would take them less than fifteen minutes to break down a nine-year-old telling a fabricated story.

I also cannot believe that the nine year old would have sat there for as long as she says that she did before going tell her parents. I'm not buying that for a minute.

I can, and I'm sick of saying why. It is simply that nine year-olds don't use reason when they panic. She said earlier that the intruder told her that if she told anyone about this that her sister would be killed. Believe me, as someone closer to her age (14), that a nine year-old will think that the person will follow their every move and will find out if they told. They'd try to find their own solution to the problem. I've already used this example, but when I was nine and still at public school (I'm homeschooled now), my dad was late picking me up. After a few minutes I panicked and started to wander, thinking he'd forgotten me. He ended up parking the car and started looking for me. I found the car and, rather than wait there for him, I panicked even more and left to look some more. Obviously, I should have known better. My dad would never leave me there alone. But I was nine and I didn't reason and instead panicked, and tried to find my own solution rather than do the reasonable thing and wait. And that was hardly as traumatic a situation as seeing your sister being taken at gunpoint. This is the third time I've stated my position on this case. I just wish you guys would try and look at this from a nine year old's point of view. Nine year old's DON'T use reason when they panic and that would explain why she waited so long.

As for the screaming, if a guy comes in brandishing a gun, while screaming is probably the best thing to do, if he tells you to shut up, again, from a kid's and even a teen's point of view, reason will fail you and you'll shut up. I'd bet a lot of adults would be quiet if told by a gunman.

I have to agree with Iwo Jima. I think she went out to do whatever teenage girls do when they sneak out through a window. The nine-year-old's story doesn't feel right. Has anyone heard anything else on the uncle? I doubt he is a suspect, but it sounds like he knows something!