The disappearance of Amber McFarland

Part 2: What happened to Amber? Article content

How could Amber have seemingly vanished into thin air? With investigators remaining tight-lipped, the community pieced together their own theories to deal with the ambiguity of her absence.

Some speculated that Amber might have run away, disappearing intentionally. Such occurrences aren’t unheard of, according to Lorna Ferguson PhD, a researcher who has studied missing persons. In her work, she found that “going missing” on purpose was sometimes used as a coping mechanism by adults facing stressful situations or negative emotions. But it seems an unlikely explanation in Amber’s case. She gave no hint to anyone she spoke with on the night she disappeared that she was distressed or thinking of deliberately dropping out of sight. She left b