That area had already been searched. She. Was. Not. There.
ETA: it was searched within 20 minutes of neighbours and locals knowing she was missing.
I am totally crushed.
Why would a girl her age go into that creek area with a newly bought coloring book.?
Answer me. Because I don't understand it.
Why was her sweatshirt not on her body? Do they automatically come off as you die of drowning in PA?
Why was she not at that spot 2 hours earlier?
The path across the creek may have been her usual route, and she took it by habit. Or it may be a bit shorter and she chose the shorter route because of the rain. Or it could be some other reason, but chances are it was for a totally rational (to her) and innocuous reason.
She wouldn't be the first person to misjudge the force of water. She was just a kid, and adults who should know better get swept away because they overestimate their ability and underestimate the power of water. People try to drive through a flooded area and their cars get swept away. She may have been completely unaware of how fast water can rise in a storm, or how strong the current would be. And it doesn't take much water.
Her sweatshirt may have snagged on something and came off due to the current. Or maybe she took it off to wrap around the coloring book so it wouldn't get wet.
Her coloring book would be very light and could have been swept much farther, there's a river a bit further down, right? Or it could have gotten completely waterlogged and be at the bottom of the stream covered with mud. Or covered by branches and debris.
She may have still been underwater when the area was searched. Or the searchers were close, but not quite where she was found. And, if you look through these threads, it's very common for someone to be found in an area already searched. All it takes is for the nearest searcher to take a step or two while scanning in the other direction. (Especially common with volunteer searchers who aren't trained). And, my personal opinion, volunteer searchers want to find a living person, and imo will subconsciously not "see" a body. That's Jmo based on following these cases for many years.
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