# Geez is this family really this clueless? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187 "2014-07-27T21:39:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/21 "2014-07-29T15:50:47Z")
I’ve been reading various news sources about this case for months. The girl came home over a week ago and I deferred any comments until more was reported. A week later (Sunday) followup stories made note that she disappeared for 9 months and had lost weight. Inferring strongly that this was a classic runaway teen story with a happy ending. It seemed the story was over and a good time to start the thread. Naturally Murphys Law kicks in and the cops make their dramatic arrest the very next day. Sometimes the news changes unexpectedly. I don’t own a magic crystal ball to forecast the future. The original OP is no longer valid. I’m glad they caught the person responsible for her abduction. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/22 "2014-07-29T15:57:20Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve been reading various news sources about this case for months. The girl came home over a week ago and I deferred any comments until more was reported. A week later (Sunday) followup stories made note that she disappeared for 9 months and had lost weight. Inferring strongly that this was a classic runaway teen story with a happy ending. It seemed the story was over and a good time to start the thread. So, based on insufficient evidence and some poor math skills (nine months, really?) you made hurtful comments about the family and the situation on a public forum read by thousands of people and searchable by Google and you think an “oops” is OK? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/23 "2014-07-29T16:10:43Z")
Its the nature of the news cycle. News changes. When it does that changes the direction of topical discussion board threads. Do you think I’m the only one that thought Sunday’s article implied she was a pregnant runaway? Even the family is saying the wrong impression has been made about this case. If you feel the need to blame someone then blame the shitty reporting for articles filled with speculation. Crime reporters work closely with the cops, they should have known this case was about to break wide open. I just accept it as part of the 24 hour news cycle. Events change hour by hour as stories unfold. [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/mom-missing-teen-pregnant-article-1.1882696](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/mom-missing-teen-pregnant-article-1.1882696) > [@](#): > > “The majority of people somehow believe that she was pregnant,” Zenya Hernandez told the “Today” show on Monday. “She was not. She did not run away. I firmly believe that. As for her knowing the individual, I firmly believe that she did not know the individual.” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/24 "2014-07-29T16:29:18Z")
Sounds very similar to the California abduction case. That girl was kept in a backyard shed for over 15 years and even raised two of her kids in that backyard. This girl was lucky that she escaped. > **[Abigail Hernandez case: Police search alleged kidnapper’s New Hampshire...](https://www.nydailynews.com/2014/07/29/abigail-hernandez-case-police-search-alleged-kidnappers-new-hampshire-mobile-home-bunker-like-storage-space/)** > > Fifteen-year-old Abigail Hernandez bravely faced her alleged kidnapper during an unexpected appearance in a New Hampshire courtroom Tuesday. Nathaniel Kibby, the man accused behind Abigail’s … > [@](#): > > On Tuesday, Police hunted through his mobile home and an above-ground storage container on Kibby’s property. Neighbors told the Boston Globe that Kibby bought bunker-like shipping container a few years ago to store his then-girlfriend’s motorcycle. > Abigail went missing last October. She was reunited with her family earlier this month. AP Abigail went missing last October. She was reunited with her family earlier this month. > > Police have not said if the bunker played a role in Abigail’s kidnapping. ---
**Author:** ![amorali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3e96dc/32.png) [@amorali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amorali)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/25 "2014-07-29T16:33:11Z")
Another reason she wouldn’t be able to eat solids is if she was withdrawing from hard drugs and/or suffering from extreme malnutrition and dehydration. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/26 "2014-07-29T18:58:49Z")
Totally irrelevant but anyone else think the abductor looks like Clancy Brown as the Kurgan? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/27 "2014-07-29T19:20:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Its the nature of the news cycle. News changes. When it does that changes the direction of topical discussion board threads. It’s possible to reflect the nature of incomplete news without disparaging a family that is dealing with a major crisis. It’s just a discussion board, but you repeatedly launch threads with incomplete information, sending a broadside of accusations against random strangers who did nothing worse than be involved in a bad situation. Blaming the “nature of the news cycle” doesn’t relieve you of the responsibility to act with some restaint in these cases. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/28 "2014-07-29T19:42:06Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Totally irrelevant but anyone else think the abductor looks like Clancy Brown as the Kurgan? Yes! I thought the exact same thing when I saw him on the news last night. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/29 "2014-07-29T19:45:18Z")
> [@amorali](#): > > Another reason she wouldn’t be able to eat solids is if she was withdrawing from hard drugs and/or suffering from extreme malnutrition and dehydration. I hadn’t considered withdrawal. That could explain how he kept her subdued. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/30 "2014-07-29T19:53:11Z")
Suppose a minor runs away from home, whether of their own volition or induced by some adult, and only then, after they’re already on their own, an adult (not the one who induced them to run away, if that was the case) helps them out and/or allows them to move in with them, and does not contact the police or their family. (Assume no coercion and no sexual relationship aspect.) Is that person legally guilty of kidnapping? ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/31 "2014-07-30T12:58:17Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Suppose a minor runs away from home, whether of their own volition or induced by some adult, and only then, after they’re already on their own, an adult (not the one who induced them to run away, if that was the case) helps them out and/or allows them to move in with them, and does not contact the police or their family. (Assume no coercion and no sexual relationship aspect.) > > Is that person legally guilty of kidnapping? Need answer fast? I suspect there would be charges laid but it might not be kidnapping. Either way it seems like a poor idea. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/32 "2014-07-30T14:02:18Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Totally irrelevant but anyone else think the abductor looks like Clancy Brown as the Kurgan? Came in here to say exactly that. [Nathaniel Kibby](http://www.pressherald.com/2014/07/28/arrest-made-in-the-kidnapping-of-abigail-hernandez/) Just shave the head a bit, add a few safety pins to the neck… [The Kurgan](http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/highlander/images/8779283/title/kurgan-photo) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/33 "2014-07-30T17:29:49Z")
Chemical restraint was my first thought as well, in the circumstances it makes a lot of sense. If she had developed a tolerance or his source dried up it would have allowed her to finally escape, and would explain the medical problems. It would also help him keep her contained and to get in an out of the “bunker” without her escaping. Why she bought the pregnancy test is still a question though. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/34 "2014-07-30T18:35:09Z")
She’s a tough girl. Been home only about 11 days and she faced down this guy in court today. She looked really good. Not too thin or emaciated at all. She probably did lose some weight but not enough to notice. > **[Was Abby Hernandez kept prisoner in a shipping container for 9 months?](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2709510/Brave-Abby-Hernandez-stares-alleged-kidnapper-court-revealed-held-captive-shipping-container-house.html)** > > Nathaniel Kibby, 34 (left), was arrested Monday for allegedly abducting 15-year-old Abigail Hernandez (right), who reappeared at her Conway, New Hampshire home last week after nine months missing. I don’t she looks pale either. That outside photo walking into court shows a normal teen girl. Probably a bit overwhelmed by the crowd of people. > [@](#): > > Abigail arrived with her mother Zenya and sister Sarah and looked pale and drawn as she took her place on the front bench. It was her first public appearance since returning home last week after going missing nine months. > > The suspect Nathaniel Kibby, 34, walked into court flanked by his publicly provided legal team, wearing an orange jumpsuit and requested financial legal aid. > > Details of what led authorities to arrest Kibby were not released in Conway Circuit Court today, but a law enforcement source earlier revealed the suspicion that Abigail was held hostage in a shipping container on Kibby’s property. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187/35 "2014-07-30T19:14:12Z")
Evil humour: Is it just me, or does the sketch look more like her Mom than like Kibby? > **[Was Abby Hernandez kept prisoner in a shipping container for 9 months?](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2709510/Brave-Abby-Hernandez-stares-alleged-kidnapper-court-revealed-held-captive-shipping-container-house.html)** > > Nathaniel Kibby, 34 (left), was arrested Monday for allegedly abducting 15-year-old Abigail Hernandez (right), who reappeared at her Conway, New Hampshire home last week after nine months missing. Lord, I apologize for that there. . . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geez-is-this-family-really-this-clueless/694187.md?page=1)