By Steve Huff
(Continued)
In another interview on Jan. 17, the Daily Chronicle again referred to Chera as "Chera Walsh." Though Brianna's mother sounded suspicious of her ex when speaking to KTVQ just a day or two before, she was now more upbeat:
"'She probably intended to go somewhere and she's not checking in,' said Chera Walsh, mother of Heather "Brianna" Marie Wilkins, 17. 'Maybe she was going on this adventure.'
"Wilkins may have taken about $200 from a family member and had no plans of returning home when she went on a walk Wednesday night, Walsh said. She doesn't suspect foul play..."
In the same interview Chera Wilkins/Walsh commented about the way Brianna left on the 11th, "The way in which she did it leaves her totally vulnerable... It's not usual behavior for her to do that." Her mother also stated that Brianna had been "acting strangely" before she vanished — not washing or combing her hair, and not using toothpaste to brush her teeth.
Could Brianna have been suffering a mental breakdown? More than one type of mental illness can onset in the late teens schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression.
Livingston Police have stated that they see no criminal intent, and no signs of foul play. They do not appear to believe that Brianna is anything other than a runaway.
Which returns to the question why run away when you are already legally emancipated? A mental breakdown would make sense, perhaps. Yet the very day Brianna Wilkins walked off into a mystery, her boyfriend, at that time 5 months out from beginning boot camp, had come to town to see her. News reports indicated he was still staying at Brianna's mother's home a week after his girlfriend disappeared. Did they quarrel? Why meet him, and then leave him behind?
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