Dear Blake,

We have a close family, and we have helped our children with the down payments on their homes. My daughter has a master’s degree, is a professional with a good job and owns her own home. She has been corresponding with and visiting a high school acquaintance who has been in prison for the past three years. She doesn’t see anyone else, and refers to this person as her boyfriend. She is on the phone with him often because he constantly calls her asking her what she’s doing.

My daughter is a nice person. She has many friends and always has a smile on her face. Before her involvement with this man, she was very outgoing. People often comment on how lucky we are to have such a loving, nice daughter. She is now visiting his family. Should we feel as scared for her as we do?

Signed, Glenda
From Madison, Wisconsin

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Dear Glenda,

Your daughter’s behavior raises a lot of red flags. I suggest you do something, before she describes as her next “new” boyfriend as a handsome, intelligent serial killer. Here are some of my thoughts for your consideration. Maybe your daughter is also a criminal. Have you recently noticed any of your valuable possessions missing, or some unfamiliar bullet ridden dead bodies in your backyard? It’s possible that your daughter feels obligated to stay in contact with him, because he helped her cheat on multiple exams in acquisition of her master’s degree. Or how about this idea. Maybe your daughter desires inmates, because she feels comfortable only getting emotionally involved with men that “can’t” run around on her… at least not with women. But in my opinion, the most likely thing going on is your daughter plans on assisting her boyfriend in a prison break. If that were to happen, track your daughter down and turn her in. That will be a very stressful thing to do, but considering there will be a big reward to capture her, use that money to go on a vacation to avoid the irritating family drama. I heard the Bahamas are pretty nice. I hope this helps.

Blake