I'm a parent too and I think that's why the story of your cousin affected me so deeply. I ended up doing a deep dive (which resulted in the Narratively article on Marjorie's 85th birthday). It is very hard to just not know. And yes, the answers were probably right in front of them, but that still doesn't mean they were easy to prove. There was a "woodsman" questioned who was in the area and who was arrested for something else. Could he have had something to do with Majorie's disappearance? No one knows. One thing, though -- the little girl spotted in West Virginia was named Lois Fridley and she was traveling with her father Conrad. At the time I wrote the article, she was still alive and likely would have remembered everything, because Marjorie's parents ended up traveling to meet her and her dad to confirm she was not their missing daughter. I had so many loose ends to track down with the article that I never got the chance to write her a letter. Not sure if she's still around. I did talk to Marjorie's cousin Jack when I wrote the story -- just called him on the phone, old-school, and he answered and we had a nice conversation. He was a funny guy. He passed away a few weeks later. I wish Marjorie could have been found and everyone could have had closure.