May 2, 2005

  • It's an interesting conumdrum.  OTOH, it's not illegal for an adult to hop a bus without telling anyone.

    OTOH, when it turns out an expensive emergency search operation was so
    much wasted effort because an adult hopped a bus without telling
    anyone, it just feels wrong that the taxpayers are stuck footing the
    bill.

    Somebody, one feels, should be made to pay for this outrage!

    The only thing I can come up with is, when the missing person is an
    adult and there's no overt sign of foul play, the family members
    reporting him or her as missing should assume the financial
    responsibility for the search in the event the "missing" person is
    discovered to be "missing" by choice, not accident or foul play or
    medical emergency.  Then it's their lookout to collect from their rude relative.

Comments (6)

  • I like your reasoning!! And wish we could implement it!

  • In Europe, if you cause an avalanche on a ski slope by leaving the appropriate ski route, you can be charged for the (very expensive) rescue operations and cleanup.

  • I just don't think it's unreasonable or an onerous burden to expect someone to leave a note saying "I can't take it...I'm outta here...please don't look for me."

    Had The Batty Bride bothered to do that it'd have saved a lot of heartache, effort, and money.

  • I agree with you. At the age of 32 (I believe that's how old she is), she should have known better than to lie.....

  • I can't agree with your solution. In effect, it means that the poor relatives of a poor person who goes missing have a huge disincentive to promptly report a disappearance that may or may not be suspicious.

    I wish I could think of a better one, though.

    I know! How about not starting frenetic national manhunts just because FoxNews picks up a story?

    Trust me, most missing person reports do not generate the kind of enormous expenses this one did. The local officials got backed into expending every possible resource (including unlikely ones) because some 24 hour news channel decided this woman, among the hundreds who probably disappeared that day, was news.

  • Hey, there's a notion! Make the news agencies pick up the tab!

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