There are so many elements of this case that I still have no grasp on despite it being in the news for two weeks now.
Like these kids seemed broke. Living with his parents. Everything I read lately says the van was rented. Who rents a 9 year old van when I’m looking online and they seem to sell for like $9k? Where do you even rent a shitty 9 year old van for 4 months that allows you to convert it into some shitbox sleeper and put thousands of miles on it?
I also see reports where she was talking on Instagram about converting HER van for the trip?
Reports like this suggest it was her van.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.new...631455%3famp=1
Then articles say this,
“The pair shared their love of travel as they mapped out a new way to live after struggling to find the cash needed to pay for hotels.
Their cash struggles influenced them to buy their white Ford Transit van before embarking on their cross-country road trip.”
Then other things say it’s a rented van.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/outside...i-seizing/amp/
Are there two vans? Or just this one shitty Ford Transport?
Seems hard to believe you’d rent an old van for multiple months.
I’ve seen reports that say she owned it, they rented it, others that say they both did, so I don’t even know why she was worried he’d ditch her if it was in both their names or it was her van? I’d guess she was more just naive and he controlled her.
I see she worked for a brief time as a pharmacy tech. They were high school sweethearts who’ve been out of school for like 4 and 5 years. He was a year ahead. They seem to bounce back and forth between Long Island where they are all from, but end up in Florida. Some reports have them moving to Florida in 2017, others in 2019.
I see no mention of school as in college or anything. They say he doesn’t appear to ever have had a job in some articles. Then other articles say they worked at a Publix grocery store.
Pooh said that town is a complete shithole. I can’t recall ever even being through North Port or even driving by it. It’s close to areas I’ve been around a lot, but don’t know it?
The kid and his girl were adults, so I assume his parents wanted him to do something with his life. I wouldn’t assume they were supporting him, but I keep seeing reports that they are relatively wealthy. Like you’d think they’d rather put them up in some shitty apartment rather than have their adult son and girlfriend living in their guest room. I assumed when this first broke that they stayed there for like a brief time before their trip, but it says they lived there since 2019.
The parents have a modest 1400 square foot home they bought for $120k in 2015. It isn’t some mansion.
But they also had a condo during the period the kids lived with them in Venice that was modest. They sold that this past year.
They also bought another home in North Port in January of 2020 for $128k, and it remained vacant the entire time they owned it, and they just sold it in July of this year for $140k. All while their kid and his girl were in their guest room, they have a vacant house in the same town. They also had their home in Long Island they also bought in 2015, same year they bought house in Florida, and eventually sold it in 2018. It bought and sold for basically what they paid.
That house they bought there in town is the most interesting to me as it makes you wonder why? You can guess.
Like all this is indicative of nothing by itself, but his parents are kind of older relative to him. His dad is like 62, mom late 50s. Seems whatever this juicing business they started, it’s kind of a later in life point to start a new business, but whatever, maybe they stumbled into something and seem to be having some success.
It’s just strange. I’ve seen anecdotes the kid was maybe a little on the spectrum. The police raided his bedroom and its kind of like a room you’d expect to see a high school kid have, not a kid living with his girlfriend. Posters on wall. I mean it’s pretty pathetic to be with your high school girlfriend, no kids, both out of school for 5 years now and living with your parents with no obvious reason why?
I mean when the story broke you kind of wonder who are these kids? It seems the more it comes into focus, just kind of clueless and aimless from all appearances.
Then it’s really strange for his parents to have a vacant home sitting there in the same town while your recently engaged kid is living with you.
There is just something that feels off about the whole thing.
Like the most common sense thing is his parents have a little success, decide to move to Florida, and keep hoping their weird kid figures out what he wants to do with his life.
He’s got this really pretty girlfriend who has been his girlfriend since they all lived up in Long Island. They know her well, but probably realize neither has a clue and hope to motivate them and help them get it together. But they aren’t just going to give them a house and life when they can’t even support themselves in their early 20s yet.
They’re all up in Long Island originally at the point these two start dating.
Parents decide to move to Florida, but also buy a house in Long Island same year, maybe because the kid and the girlfriend are still up there? Maybe the parents just want to go back and forth originally?
I’m just guessing, but these don’t seem like investment properties. They didn’t turn a profit of any real sort on any. No talk of renters. Modest homes for the areas.
Then the kid and girl decide they want to move to Florida. So they move in with parents in 2019, eventually get engaged, but strike me as aimless.
I’m guessing like a lot of parents, they are willing to help out, but they aren’t going to support this kid and his girl forever.
They seem to have a lot of drama. Break up and get back together, which is probably why story is confusing as to it seems they’ve lived in Florida since she graduated, but then you see reports of her recently living in Long Island. I’m guessing they break up and she goes home for a bit and then comes back.
Parents I’m guessing buy this house down there in 2020 with the idea their kid and his new wife will eventually move into it, because why else are they buying a modest house in the same town that just sits vacant, and then their dopey son and possibly troubled girlfriend decide they are going to live the van life and become social media influencers, so they say fuck it and just sell the house for basically what they paid for it? It was always vacant, and they sell it a year later?
The timing of selling it in July right when these two are planning this trip when they just bought it a year earlier seems telling.
It’s not like it’s some expensive property that’s going to break them, so it doesn’t make much sense, but seems most likely they’re trying to get their kid to grow up and give him a little motivation, yet he doesn’t want to take it.
I can imagine them saying, hey, get a job or a plan and here is your first house? The kid is 23 by this point and his girl 22.
All pure conjecture, but looking at the nature of their real estate purchases, I’d guess they are hoping to motivate him.
Anyway, his parents clearly were covering for him and running interference. If these reports are accurate, then it seems he could be anywhere with a 4 day head start if they wanted to help him financially. I’m not sure they did though.
I mean they had like two weeks between when he got back until the story broke before everything they did would be scrutinized. If they were going to cover for him anyway, why didn’t they throw him a few $ to flee?
Really strikes me like maybe as they got older, they started to have a little business success, and a few $, but had this kid living there that they didn’t know what to do with? They tried different things, but he just didn’t have any plan.
They were willing to help him to a point, but only if he helped himself. I’m guessing he felt pressure. I would guess the engagement might even be him trying to get it together or because he felt pressured to grow up, but then he, or both of them decide to lead this van life and his parents say fuck it, it’s your life, but you’re on your own and we are going to sell the house we bought if you plan on living in a van and traveling and want to be Instagram stars. That would strike me as irritating after you’ve had them living there for two years to help them save for a future and that’s the best they can come up with.
I just assumed they were of modest means given their behavior and Pooh saying that town was a shithole, but I’m guessing they basically said if you kids want to do this, you’re on your own.
I almost wondered considering the kid was hitchhiking when he still had access to the van, and him jacking her debit card, if their arguments were about running out of money and if he didn’t even have gas money? They had an incident the day she possibly died, which appeared to be an argument over a bill at some Tex Mex restaurant that apparently upset her and he was acting erratically.
This is a really strange story in many aspects. You see a story like this linked below that his parents were modestly wealthy, yet for a whole family being heavily scrutinized, it’s like no one knows anything about what the fuck they do other than sell and repair juicers out of their home based business? And no real mention of what the kids did besides want to become influencers?
When you look at their decisions, buying houses up there and then what seems like a starter home that they sell right about the time the kids decide to take off for this great adventure, you can start to make some possible guesses. Particularly the house down there in town that no one lived in.
I would bet the parents were really frustrated with their son, or both of them. They gave them a roof over their head for years, and they still were aimless. When they lived with the parents and worked at whatever menial jobs, they probably had enough money for weed and Chipotle. They get engaged. But then decide they don’t want a normal life or to work and want to travel and get rich off being influencers, get out on the road, and are constantly broke, all their little arguments get put on steroids, and you have two immature kids with no plan fighting all the time. I can even imagine that before they had the option of settling down and getting married and having a house to move into, but now they’re all in on this stupid plan, have nothing to fall back on, and rather than go home and do something with their life, they have been putting on a show for all their friends about this fabulous exciting life they’re leading on Instagram that makes their working friends jealous, when in reality they are flat broke and can barely make it week to week. They’re running out of money, fighting, and it all just comes apart. They seem to have always have had a toxic relationship, probably only engaged out of pressure after being together for all that time, and it just blew up finally.
It’s possible she was the one who wanted to do this whole influencer thing and he felt like he fucked his life up over it? No idea, but clearly she was a really pretty girl out of his league, so I’m sure if he felt like she didn’t want a normal life in small town Florida, he wasn’t going to lose her. She might have been a handful to deal with. Most pretty girls are. It’s also possible he’s just a nut and she’s a gem, but probably a little of he’s controlling and jealous and she’s pretty and has other options and doesn’t want a boring life and we end up in this spot.
I’m guessing the kid went home, the parents ran interference for him, but in reality, know he killed a girl and just want him the fuck out. They might feel like he fell for the wrong girl and it’s not their kids fault like most parents, but probably know he’s a lazy dope also.
Maybe they gave him $ and he’s somewhere on a beach, but just looking at the whole picture, I’m guessing they were the type willing to start their kid out in a good place if he did something productive, but he was a disappointment, and they are probably disgusted at who he turned out to be and he’ll end up dead somewhere and while they’ll be crushed, they won’t be surprised.
Lot of guessing, and no idea about who influenced who, but in general, both seemed like directionless kids who should have broke up years ago and maybe it turns out better for everyone.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/meaww.c...lion-estimated