EDITORIAL - Going nowhere

It looks like there is still no resolution in sight to the abduction and murder of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique. And judging by the regular news updates on the case, it is easy to see why closure may not be visiting any time soon.

Those investigating the case seem too preoccupied with discovering physical evidence. No one seems willing to do some mental calisthenics by trying to figure out why anyone would try to harm such a harmless little girl.

The three basic elements in a murder case that investigators need to determine in order to arrive at a solution are so simple they are known by a very familiar acronym — MOM — as in mother, the one person all humans are closest to and cannot do without.

MOM stands for motive, opportunity, and means. As narratives of the incident would show, the abductors and killers of Ellah Joy clearly had the opportunity and the means to commit the crime against the little girl.

They had the opportunity because the girl was with them. And they certainly had the means because Ellah Joy was virtually powerless against the combined strength of the man and woman who snatched her from school.

But what the investigators apparently still do not have is motive. It appears that they never found it crucial to their investigation to find out what drove the couple to specifically take Ellah Joy and not any other girl.

Was the abduction and murder of Ellah Joy an act of vengeance? Was it intended to set an example? Or was it the consequence of something that someone did, or about to do, or failed to do? On the other hand, all things being equal, was it a motiveless and random act?

But even if it was a motiveless and random act, still the investigators need to check on all possible motives and then rule them out one by one in order to come to a conclusion of randomness.

That is not the direction this case has taken, however. Motive seems too alien a concept in the ongoing investigation, making many wonder why this is so. It is because it is too taxing and complicated? Or is there something none of those following the case are on to.