On further research my last answer was wrong. I deleted it so as not to spread false info. I can’t see any official report so this is based off research on the sub and comments on articles, but it’s the closest answer I have.

Originally I said it’s a myth you can’t report a missing person until a certain amount of time has passed. But you were correct that her “vacation” did impact this. (I’m sorry I corrected you and I was wrong! I’m so shocked that this is how it can work, I was always informed otherwise, but I guess context does effect filing of missing persons reports.)

The other major factor causing delays was that it was crossing state lines. Her mom was trying to file in one state, about a missing person in another state (possibly multiple states). Apparently this causes huge delays.

That being said, I really have to respectfully question how much of an attempt was made, as I have seen no police reports of her attempts to file, which should leave a huge paper trail. I imagine there would be huge implications for the officers that said her “vacation” effected the filing. I don’t know that this was actually something an officer said, or maybe more her family believed themselves.

I strongly believe that a shortened timeframe of filing a report would not have changed the outcome for Gabby, but it’s important to note that not every family relationship is as close as it is made to be in the media, especially in a grieving process. And there’s nothing wrong with it. But it does give anyone on the outside a slightly warped understanding of things like how a situation came to be. Perhaps Brian had isolated Gabby much more from her family than they are comfortable sharing.