Thank you for your thoughtful response. I do get this, but it seems that the delay in identifying the victims keeps getting blamed on the probable improper registration of the van, as opposed to the lack of ID found on the victims, and it is THAT part that I don't get. I do see how the story got much bigger when the identities were discovered, and that surely contributed to much wider coverage in the news.
Oh - right, you're right about that! That license plate was just the last little life preserver that you take into the middle of the Pacific, after doing all kinds of other things to survive. And I know that people have the view that "kids do the darnedest things" and these victims were very young and therefore sort of like the German kayakers in the story linked above. I am immersed in teaching 600 or so undergrads a year and I use travel and wilderness stories (scenarios nearly all undergrads envision for themselves) as teachable moments.
From the young person's point of view, though, the main reason to have multiple forms of ID stowed in various places in a vehicle, is to make their families rest easier, the argument I've been making about journalism won't fly with the younger set. And I don't blame any of them for wanting a free and easy life on the road, just as I did. I did so many stupid things. But as an older person who teaches younger people, I want them to learn as much as possible.
Lucas probably knew the van could break down, but no one anticipates crazed teen killers on their same route. Nor is there any real way to protect yourself (aside from open carry, sleeping in shifts, using night vision goggles? I mean, seriously - is that what some people will now do? I do know people who will do that...but they're already over-prepared for every single thing they think can happen). Even if someone did all that, they sure aren't going to shoot two teens on sight (well, maybe in Arizona or Florida).
We've already heard from a few WS members that they have rethought their camping plans in Manitoba. I'm really curious about how long that effect will last, whether any future crimes occur that are similar or copy cat or the actual perps resurfacing (especially in the next 5 years, where there will be some memory for this event).
I hate that Manitoba is essentially now terrorized for an indefinite period of time. The Las Vegas shootings and the Borderline shootings - in Newbury Park, CA ended in the death of the perp and not this kind of extended fear (ranging, I'm sure from mild to strong, with people's normal reactions influenced by it). The Boston Bombers basically had no real place to hide or die unseen.
