Hereshecomes75
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Supposedly Linda’s parents realized there was a problem by 4:00 am Monday. And searching began Monday morning.I do get what you're saying, but I don't believe waiting days before reported someone (of any age) mising is not the best idea. But I do understand your point, by logic, a 12-year-old girl not coming home on a Sunday night is way more concerning than a 18-year-old girl not coming home on a Sunday night. But it depends on your 18-year-old. If your 18-year-old doesn't do stuff like this, if her friends came home, if she's the quiet, shy type... then it's cause for concern, as opposed to another 18-year-old girl that sleeps over at friends houses, that goes to graduation parties, that is outgoing, etc.
My take is that when Linda didn’t come home after youth group—which can go until midnight—the family realized among itself that no one had actually seen her since noonish on Sunday. Other than the fact that we know that Linda is the oldest of numerous children, possibly 8, we don’t know if any of those would have attended the same activity she planned to attend.
An Amish household with that many children is a busy place, and parents don’t micromanage their kids, from what I’ve witnessed. Since formal schooling ends at 14, older teens may work fulltime hours. Girls Linda’s age may have several jobs to fill their week. The market she presumably works at isn’t open every day, so she may have a mix of paid employment and family chores to fill those other days. Sunday is a day for worship, rest, socializing, and recreation. My point is that older Amish teens are typically allowed to manage themselves, and they aren’t texting their parents every time they go somewhere.
So if Linda is typically a reliable girl who manages her own affairs and doesn’t require a lot of parental oversight, it makes sense to me that they didn’t realize there was a problem until they realized she hadn’t come home.
I do wonder if the friends who expected Linda to be at youth group attempted to reach out to her on the cell phone she is believed to have when she didn’t show. It certainly wouldn’t be their responsibility to see why she hadn’t come to a voluntary activity, but I’m just curious. We usually know more about missing people than we do in this case.