Thanks narlacat. I thought so but was unsure. I think that it was a very strange idea. Had I been in those circumstances, I would have felt far too broken up to deal with anybody, not to speak of the fact that I would have worried that a kidnapper watching the house would not have been happy to see all those people show up.
Over the years, I have also wondered whether the brother had not been the one to swing a baseball bat (or something similar) at the sister's head, again out of anger but with no desire to kill, and then the parents together agreed to cover the whole thing up to protect him. I believe that to be a possibility too. Anyone know details that would eliminate that possibility? I seem to remember however that he was later embarrassed to sit with the parents when eating out - so if that was the case, he would have been extremely ungrateful or not very bright.
JMO