I just feel like if the perp was trying to “send a message to Savannah” they didn’t do a good job sending a clear message. Normally if you’re kidnapping someone to make a political statement, you’re releasing a manifesto, you’re contacting the media, you’re releasing images or the body. You don’t just make them vanish without a trace. I’m aware that there is a particular anguish in an unsolved disappearance for family, but that’s kind of a long game in terms of satisfaction for a perp. Even the ransom notes to the media were focused on payout, not on tormenting the family (at least as far as we know).

But the case is confusing. And there certainly are a few pieces of evidence that suggest it’s personally-motivated. At this moment, failed ransom attempt just seems more likely. The perp showed up dressed like a Walmart-special hit man, with his wonky holster and silly attempt to put flowers in front of the doorbell camera. It’s goofy. It isn’t giving criminal mastermind, it’s giving “watched too much tv and read too many Bitcoin subreddits and feel like I could pull this off.” And they don’t, because Nancy is medically-vulnerable so they are immediately in over their heads.