Chris

I'm not saying that they weren't incredibly stupid in what they did. I'm just saying I am concerned at how easily some people slip from condemning a stupid incident - even a stupid chain of incidents - to condemning them as 'bad parents' which takes in far more than whether they think it's a good idea to leave their kids alone while they go to a restaurant that (they believe) is within reasonable eyeshot of the apartment.

And I don't know what to make of it either Pia, really I don't. On the one hand I want to shake them 'til their teeth rattle for being so stupid. But on the other hand I suspect deep down they *know* that whoever took their daughter, they will share some of the responsibility for the lifetime of trauma she will suffer after this - assuming, of course, she is still alive. They are hurting, and they are going to hurt for the rest of their lives. And if, on the remote off-chance, they or a member of their family does read this forum, then the last thing they need is to read a load of complete strangers who are lining up to say what thoroughly awful people they think they are.