IMO
Then she would be bashed for not having time to get media attention. She feels people are only looking for a dead Hailey so she defends herself she is defending her position in her head. Hailey is alive. If she didnt defend then all attention would be on Hailey being dead.
People have to look for a dead Hailey now. It has been close to a month. So anyone searching the woods and the abandoned buildings have to be looking for remains. That doesn't mean that she is not alive--maybe she is. But there is a good chance she is not with us anymore, and if her body is not found, then the mystery will never be solved. I am not sure she really wants it 'solved' though. The way she changes her version of events, and puts Shawn's version in her timeline, making it seem factual, makes me wonder.
Hailey is a missing child. No evidence of foul play. Finding Hailey is important, but do you really help pick up trash when people are out searching for you daughters body? Not me I wouldnt do it. I would want no parts of that. Thanking searchers for looking for a body of a little girl that I am praying with all my heart is still alive would be a very hard and bitter thing for me to do (not tht the searchers are not wonderful ,I am so glad they are out there) much less helping out at the center.
There IS evidence of foul play. We all know she did not runaway that day. So where is she?
And WHY would it be 'hard' to thank the searchers? What if Hailey is being kept alive in an abandoned home or in a cellar or barn somewhere?
What if she is hiding or injured and the searchers come upon her?
Does Billie know that cannot or will not happen?
I am surprised that you use the term bitter in defending her. Seems kind of odd when these volunteers put their own lives on hold, many traveled hundreds of miles, just to try and bring Hailey home, in whatever condition she is in.
If she is dead, doesn't Billie want her found?
I dont think people have stopped to really think about ALL of the emotions one would feel if their daughter was missing.
I am not looking for a debate on why she did and didnt do this or that either. I have seen some stuff said online about her that makes me ashamed of humanity. I feel she does deserve some compassion and empathy until we know what has happened. I mean do we really think she never loved her daughter at all? Do people think she never cared if Hailey lived or died and has no feelings at all for her?
I disagree. I think many of us have thought about ALL of the emotions one would feel. Many of us have actually had those same feelings and experiences. And that is why some people have a problem with Billies lack of emotion at the start of the case. And with her most animated emotions being when she speaks of Shawn. And when asked what the lowest point of the experience has been, and she says it was when people began to suspect Shawn. THOSE are the things that set off the hinky meters imo.
Of course she deserves compassion, as all mothers of missing children do.
And if anyone has said she has no love for her daughter and doesn't care about her, I would strongly disagree and ask them to stop saying such things.
However it was unfortunate that she never called her 13 yr old girl, even after she said she was upset not to hear from her. And hearing that Billie went out with Shawn that night and took the last $ from her empty account to get them both high, and she still did not check on her that entire night---that upsets some people. I agree that it is not fair to attack her for that, but she is in the spotlight now, and that is going to happen.
loser