Question E

[Jonetta]

Max meets with Chuck Pence who led the park ranger search for Scott. He also lets her accompany him when they go back out again. What were your initial impressions of him? Did they change by the end of the story?

[Anita]

I really liked him. He was the only official who seemed to care at all that Scott was missing.

[Sharon]

I wasn't sure about Chuck at first, but it was soon clear that he was a good man. He wanted to find Scott, and he didn't have a problem including Max on the search.

By the end of the story, I still thought he was a good man, but I didn't like how he sided with Detective Horn at the end.

[Robin]

I felt that Chuck was sincere in his search for Scott. He led Max to the camp site and listened to her when she asked to hunt in a different direction.

[Jonetta]

I felt better about Chuck in the beginning, feeling like he was a straight shooter and very committed to finding Scott. But his refusal to take a stronger position against Art, Carlos and Tom was disappointing. In the end, he didn’t stand up for Scott and just accepted law enforcement’s unwillingness to take a stronger position against those boys.

[Robin]

A Park Ranger can't press charges. Some of them can write citations for things that happen in the park (ex. speeding). I think Chuck was just passing along that the guys were given slaps on the wrist and there was nothing they could do about it. I don't think he actually agreed with it.

[Jonetta]

He kept making excuses for the boys and was reluctant to even consider their guilt. I’m not implying he could do anything legally. It was his attitude about them.

[Sharon]

I had a problem with his attitude towards the end. He is a local. I expected him to say something to Horn about the boys getting away with murder and little to no charges.

[Jonetta]

So did I.

[Melissa]

I liked him as well. He had continued to search for Scott for months and was making sure he covered the whole area. It's just too bad that he was given false information on the direction Scott went. Because of his determination to find Scott I was disappointed in his actions in the end.