re: leaving kids in hotel room
I'm thinking that might be a European thing. Mind you that opinion is based on Monty Python sketches about leaving baby carriages outside stores while shopping and watching shows on BBCA, so your actual mileage may differ.
Considering how much trouble my two can get into in the time it takes me to go to the bathroom, I can't imagine leaving them alone alone for that much time. (Or for that trivial of a reason.) Mind you, I also find it incredible that when I was five it was safe enough that I could walk nearly a mile home from school every day, but now parents in my neighborhood meet their children at the bus stop at the edge of the neighborhood because they it isn't considered safe for them to walk five blocks home from there.
I doubt if they would have left wallet or purse unattended.
Color be cynical but my first reaction to the story was "they are involved" in the disappearance.
When I first clicked onto the story I thought it said 14-year-old. And I thought, "OK - I could see leaving my 14-year-old alone in the hotel room, under the right circumstances." Maybe even with the 2-year-old twins, I guess, if s/he was a mature 14.
But a FOUR YEAR OLD?!? I can only think of a couple of possible explanations, and none of them reflect well on the parents.
Preventable tragedy is right.
I don't know that much about this, but when I read the article, I thought of a family reunion we had in Minnesota. We were all staying in a college dorm, and the rooms were all set up with 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and no kitchen. We returned from one day's activities very late, and had fed Echo, who was then 2, on the way back. All of the adults met on a different floor to eat pizza for dinner, and we left her, sleeping, in our room with her 16 month-old cousin, also sleeping. I know the circumstances were different, but I guess I still feel a little could-have-been-me sentiment.
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