“We weren’t thinking clearly, obviously,” John says. “I can’t really imagine anybody would in that situation.”
He’s defensive now, already on edge as he waits for Dean and me to react to the story they’re telling.
“That’s completely understandable,” I say. “A situation like that isn’t something you ever expect to happen. You don’t know how you would react or what it would feel like. It makes perfect sense that you were confused. What did Allison say when you told her Ashley wasn’t home?”
“She was confused, too. But she wouldn’t explain why. Said she would go talk to Vivian and left really abruptly. I remember she was on her bike and she rode away so fast it almost looked as if she was going to lose balance. As though she wasn’t holding herself up well and was going to fall over. I actually remember standing there at the door watching her ride off until I couldn’t see her anymore because I was so afraid she was going to fall and get hurt,” John says.
“When John told me what was going on, I didn’t know what to think. If it wasn’t so horrible, I would almost say it was funny,” Misty says.
“What do you mean funny?” I ask.
“My husband is the more permissive parent. He always has been. Ever since the girls were little, he has encouraged them to explore and figure out who they are. That’s something we always try to instill in them. That they are individuals, and it’s important for them to figure out who they are as people and live their lives to their fullest extent. I was more cautious with them, but John really encouraged them to try new things, depend on themselves, see the world as their own and take it. He wanted them to feel strong and independent.
“I was always the worrier. I wanted them to be strong, independent, capable women as they grew up, too. But I still had so much of a mama bear heart. I was protective and wanted to know both my girls were safe all the time. It terrified me to think something could happen to them. That was why I insisted on her checking in, even when I thought she was with other parents. I needed to hear her voice and know she was all right. John and I had always told both of my girls that if they were ever in a situation where they were uncomfortable, or something was going on they didn’t agree with, they could call us.
“No questions asked, we would be there to pick them up and get them out of the situation. We had even come up with code words, so if they were in a situation when they needed help but didn’t feel comfortable saying that, they could use their own individual code phrases, and either John or I would know they needed us.
“In every other situation, every time one of our girls was late on her curfew by five minutes, or I heard sirens going even vaguely in the direction where I thought she was, I thought something was wrong. I just automatically thought the worst. And John would reassure me everything was fine. And it always was. But that day, he was immediately upset. He was immediately worried, and I was the one who said there had to be an explanation. That it was fine.”
“Why would you think that?” Dean asks.
“Because it always had been,” Misty says. “Because I couldn’t wrap my mind around something so terrifying as my daughter being missing in that huge park by herself. As I said, she had gone there before. Several times. It wasn’t a completely new area to her. Ashley had never been an easily confused, distracted child. She wasn’t one to get lost. Sometimes she got flustered or anxious about things, but when that happened, she hunkered down. She didn’t wander away or run off in a fit.
“There would be no reason the three girls would deliberately separate in the park, and even if for some reason they had accidentally gone different directions, Ashley would have been able to find her way. Or she would have called for help.”
“Sherando Ridge has awful cell phone reception,” I point out. “I know that for a fact because I was just there and barely able to connect with anybody, even with a dedicated source. I can’t imagine the reception would have been any better five years ago. Couldn’t she have gotten to a place where there would be no cell phone reception, and she was unable to call for help?”
“I didn’t think about that until later,” Misty admits. “It wasn’t until it really sank in that Vivian and Allison didn’t know where she was, and that she wasn’t there with Vivian’s family, that what I know now was just denial faded away. I had to come to terms with what was actually happening.”
“When did the girls admit they weren’t with Vivian’s family?” I ask.
“That day,” John says. “Soon after Allison showed up at the house with Ashley’s backpack, we got a call from the police. She had gone to Vivian to tell her Ashley wasn’t home. They genuinely believed she was. They explained that they were all together, they went to the park by themselves to walk around, and Ashley got mad at them. According to the girls, she said she didn’t want to be there with them anymore and she stomped off. They knew we would pick her up without a second thought, so they decided to give her some space and let her leave.”
“What happened after your conversation with the police?” I ask.
“They started down the runaway route pretty much immediately. There was a fairly cursory search of the
