Well, I have now read just about every newspaper article published about this case! I concentrated on reading the articles published in newspapers in Colorado - as opposed to truncated reprints in out of town papers. The local articles are usually the longest and give the most details. But of course I know that sometimes published details can be inaccurate.
I also watched the two days of the Dr. Phil show on youtube.
Mark certainly is a convoluted man. He does seem to be extremely shut down emotionally, as Dr. Phil pointed out to him. But obviously he was very upset about the son saying "I hate you".
At first he SEEMED like he was willing to take the polygraph, but certainly reluctantly. His emotional distress was clearly evident during Session #1 with the polygrapher (the same day as Day2 of the Dr. Phil show). Having read the website of the examiner and what his Q&A section says about preparing to take the test, it would NOT have been a good situation to test MR that day. And it seemed the polygrapher agreed with that.
I think MR may have talked to his attorney that evening and was instructed not to take the test. Attorney could have even told him it was okay to drink some alcohol and make that be the excuse for not taking the test the next morning? In any case, I think he had already made up his mind that he was NOT going to take that test. Yet he showed up as scheduled at 8:00am and began the pre-qualifying questions for the test.
I have already stated my negative view of polygraph tests. Reading the Q&As on the polygrapher's website convinced me that things have gotten better over the years, with the institution of standards and certifications for being a polygrapher. BUT the test IS based on reactions of the autonomic nervous system. And once you study how that particular body system works and how and why it reacts, the more you realize how an honest person could fail one of these tests.
It is my understanding that both EHR and MR took a polygraph at the beginning of all this. If guilty of something, he surely would not want to be taking a second test. If innocent of anything but the first test came back as either "failed" or "inconclusive" he would surely be wary of taking a second test. (The Dr. Phil polygrapher lists an 87-95% rate of accurate detection. I wonder how anyone came up with that statistic? I will have to read more to find out, I guess.) In any case, the figure is not 100%. If not 100%, why not? Because in some people their epinephrine production is erratic. Like in people who suffer from panic attacks - and others.
There is a tremendous amount of information available in the medical community about epinephrine and the problems cause by excessive and/or erratic production of the hormone by the body. And this is the very body hormone that the polygraph is based upon.
Bottom line on this issue: We can't say MR refused a polygraph, because he did voluntarily take the first one. What he refused was a second polygraph. At a time when he was under a huge amount of stress. Which definitely will skew the results of this type of test. Stress produces epinephrine in the body, which then alters the blood pressure, breathing rate, and heartbeat. The very things the test is based upon.
I do have a few other questions:
1.) Has it been determined there was in fact a landline in the father's house that Dylan could have used that morning to call his friend?
2.) Has poor/sporadic/non-existent cell phone service at father's house been determined?
3.) Has it been verified that father's house had continuous/steady/reliable wifi service? (Mine is sporadic at my house. Either a router problem or whatever, but I need to "reset" my router about 3-4 times weekly. What a pain!)
4.) In early articles, Dylan's friends confirmed that they had hitchhiked in this area in the past. Now whether a mother wants to believe it or not, and whether she talked to Dylan about this or not, I think there is the likelihood he would do it again.
Some other things:
An article written about 10 days after Dylan's disappearance described MR sitting on the sofa where Dylan was sleeping and "tangled blankets" still being present on the sofa. So dad was no housekeeper. Same article described some of Dylan's clothing being left behind at father's house. Yet later articles describe "nothing left behind"?
Two photos of Dylan, one at airport, one at Walmart. Airport photo = no backpack seen. Walmart photo = backpack. Could these photos be mixed up. Would expect to see backpack at airport. Would not expect to see backpack at Walmart.
Time line for "grocery shopping for week at Walmat": Seemed like a short time for grocery shopping, plus choosing a movie, going through checkout, etc. to be home by last text at 9:37pm. Maybe I am confused about this.
Why in God's name would a 14year old be telling his friend he would arrive at his house (grandmother's house, actually) at 6:30am the next morning? Anyone ever asked MR about this? MR says he tried to wake Dylan several times that morning. MR says he didn't leave house until around 7:30am. But Dylan's friend texted him at 6:45am asking where he was. Dad was home at the time. Did he hear Dylan's cellphone ring or beep between 6:45-7:30am?
Did anyone ever ask MR if he saw cellphone or Ipod device plugged in the night before? How about the next morning?
Sounds like both mom and dad have history of alcohol abuse and explosive tempers. Plus, I am amazed at the level of acrimony between the two so many years after the divorce. Especially when both have moved on to other love interests. However, I do know a woman who has not "moved on" from acrimony and bitterness despite 30+years having passed, another long-term marriage, etc. I guess some people get "stuck" in a certain emotion.
While I feel sorry for Elaine as the obviously tortured mother of a child who has disappeared, I feel she has deep, deep problems and is doing an awful lot of projecting of anger onto her former husband. And has been for a long time. Many of us have been through divorce. Some of them much worse than this one was. None of us, thankfully, have a missing child. But I really do think she needs to step back a bit.
I still don't see enough of anything to think that either of these parents had anything to do with the disappearance of Dylan.
Something I had not considered before: Accident
I do not know the terrain of the area. Any sinkholes around there? Any old caves/caverns? Any old mines? MR mentioned some "rocks" near his house where Dylan liked to go. Any chasms or deep crevices there?
We have all read strange stories of people being found in strange places. I can think of a teenager and his truck who were found in a lake that everybody passed by daily while he was missing. Another was a doctor who fell down the flue of her boyfriend's house and was not found for about a week. A third was a woman who was dead behind a bookcase in her home for several weeks.
Could this child have met with some accidental fate from which he will never be found? There is water nearby, a river and a lake? Ray Gricar's body has never yet been found here in Pennsylvania.
What if these are just very embittered, angry, semi-alcoholic parents who are both totally innocent?
Does this mean I am "on the fence"?