You say that where 'other possibilities' are concerned ( for example parental involvment ? ), no evidence was found
You say that where 'abduction' is concerned, there was a failure to find evidence
See what you did there ?
I was just this minute wondering where you were, icabod. And here you reappear, keeping us all on track!
I obviously did not spell out clearly enough what I was attempting to do!
I'll be less subtle now:
If you read back, you'll see I did not say that there was a failure to find evidence for abduction. I was quoting Stephen.
He commented that the original investigation was not a cock-up', it simply found no evidence for abduction.
In reply to him, I was hinting at a logical matter, namely that measuring the quality of the investigation
only on its failure or otherwise to find evidence to back up the abduction theory would imply that the abduction theory was the main or only one to be considered.
This would be a strange position for Stephen to be taking. (Sorry to talk about you in the third person, Stephen).
Ironically, even though I am a 'believer' in the abduction theory, I was reminding Stephen of the fact that there are many other possibilities on the table.
Surely then a better measure of the investigation would be to look at its record in considering all possible scenarios - not just one - and examining its success in making progress accordingly.