Now that the charges have started coming out, I am even more saddened and horrified than I was before. Sherry was alive when she was taken. If she was hit by a motor vehicle, she was NOT killed instantly, and therefore was denied proper medical care when she was hurt. That is going to haunt me, her family, all of us. How long did she suffer? The odds of survival without fire and proper winter camping gear for even a single night are small in this winter climate, even if a person has not suffered severe trauma. If they dropped her off somewhere in North Dakota (the rumor), she could have suffered a horrible death, in pain, and hypothermic. She was a cancer survivor who jogged even after surgery. I'll bet she fought for her life. I wish I could have known her.
But who knows, if they panicked, and she was moaning and struggling for her life ... they may not have waited for her to die a natural death. To say "hit and run" at this point, is far too simple. I do not blame the authorities for not wanting to commit to a description of what happened for the public record. These men are clearly not honorable - so believing their story is something no one is going to do. I also think the authorities are going to go for the most severe of all possible charges.
I am still betting on the "she was hit by a motor vehicle" theory complicated by -- alcohol, drugs, fear of job loss, something -- because it was still dark, and our roads often have little shoulder, especially if there is a ditch alongside it. In my half urban/half rural neighborhood, it is our daily experience to suddenly come upon a runner at 6:15 AM and have to drive cautiously to avoid hitting them. Honestly, I am already heartbroken for her family. I cannot even stand speculating on something worse than that.
