Where is my friend? getting worried now

[listsandbudgets]

Friend coming to stay and said she'd be here about 11am so we could have lunch together. Still no sign of her.

Her DP just texted me about 2.45pm and asked if she'd got here safely as she wasn't answering texts and usually drops him a quick text after long drives to let him now she's turned up. He said she left at 9.30am which is right as it's about an hour and a half. I sent her a text about 12.30 along the lines of don't worry about running late I can hold lunch see you in a bit - no reply.

I've looked at her route on google maps - no traffic holdups that I can see. Not yet replied to her DP - will have to say she's not arrived... luckily he's not the type to panic but he will be concerned obviously.

talk me down I'm imagining all sorts of awful things. I wouldn't worry about an hour or even 2 hours at a push but 4 hours late with no communication is concerning especially as I know she left on time and she's usually really reliable give or take 20 minutes

OK she just called on her DPs phone.. all a bit confused as signal kept going in and out and she sounded exhausted. Tyre blew out, she skidded, managed to get into the side, took her a bit to get over shock then tried to change tyre herself, couldn't because she realised she'd sprained her wrist trying to control car, called the breakdown service, realised her phone battery was low so wasnt using it in case they phoned back then it run out, then she fell asleep and they arrived shortly before her DP and were sorting it out when he arrived... so all in all she had a really sh*t day and is absolutely mad with breakdown service... theyre leaving her car by side of road and her dp will go with his db to get it in the morning

So she's shocked, hurt her wrist and generally cold and pissed off but alive and kicking thank God and I'm now feeling really awful I didn't do something earlier Some rubbish friend I am furious with myself. So glad she was on a relatively quiet road and not the motorway though guess she'd have been picked up quicker if she'd been there.

Apparently she had a pack of jaffa cakes and some pain killers in the glove box though so it wasn't all bad!!

Next time a friend acts out of character I'm doing something quicker - lesson learnt so furious and shocked with myself

I am also someone who thought that the police wouldn't record an adult as missing for at least 24 hours

Nope, I called out the AA one evening when I broke down and they turned up, couldn't fix it and said they'd arranged for a pick up. This was in the countryside around 5pm.

At 11pm truck arrived. Driver dismissed AA claims that his company was too busy to call and were probably waiting for me to get fed up of calling and arrange my own pick up

I was too pissed off to call anyone and waited til I got home.

So no nothing weird or suspicious

OP I'm glad your friend is OK now

It is bizarre but her friend is going to call her later to explain.

We ve both learnt a good lesson today OP re getting police support immediately.
Thanks MNs !

That makes little sense she's not send a quick text to tell people where she was/would be delayed whilst waiting for breakdown to call her back. That takes minimal battery power.

Her explanation has just made this weirder.

Agreed

PS really worried she might have hit her head - she sounded a bit confused and the fact she went to sleep so long concerns me - God I wish I still drunk could do with a large glass of wine

Can you phone her DP and speak to him?

Glad she's OK. But such a strange story with lots of unanswered questions. A lesson for us all to make sure our phones are fully charged before setting off on a journey alone!

The sleepiness also suggests she might be in shock.

Think it would be best for her DH to have her checked out, TBH.

I will later i assume he's driving. I'll give them a chance to get home first. She did sound really groggy

That’s quite a leap!

Wow she was lucky. Does sound strange she fell asleep?

Exactly - broke down am ok - would be enough.

Glad she’s okay. I thought lack of messaging might be an attempt to conserve low battery.

Send a messaging to your partner in that situation is essential I would say and won't drain a battery. Something sounds off about all of this.

That sounds awful for her. Like you I'd be worried about the sleeping.

I've been thinking about this for hours ! She wasn't running from her DH I hope but I very much feels like that like you were just a cover story to get away from him, very odd that he could not only track her car but her phone as well and that she made no contact with you at all . I really feel uneasy about her being found by him . And I don't normally jump to conclusions

It makes perfect sense to me. I nearly suggested it up thread. If her battery was low and she was anticipating a long wait for recovery, she might not want to risk even sending a text to eke out the power as long as possible. Add in panic, shock, adrenaline and pain, she probably wasn’t thinking straight.

Glad all appears to be well.

I have to say I am thoroughly amazed at the amount of times people travelling alone on a long journey (or going anywhere) seem to have low battery at the crucial moment.

Surely it's the first thing you check before getting ready to leave (well I do anyway), and having a spare charger/power bank in the car/in your bag is a no brainer for women especially on their own.

Is that just me thinking this?

Most people can charge their phone via the car nowadays.

Seems quite odd to just go to sleep during a stressful situation like that,

Well, I'm sure the friend would have had some kind of charger, seeing as she was going to stay with OP, I think. Wouldn't the friend have been able to charge her phone up herself in the car with it?

Something not right with the whole thing.