Was anyone else wondering why Sheriff Mallott and Chris Renn did not disclose to anyone that they found Gabby's backpack?

Was anyone else wondering why Sheriff Mallott and Chris Renn did not disclose to anyone that they found Gabby's backpack? Shouldn't someone have told Gabby's mother? What was their motivation to keep it a secret?

No, I did not wonder why they did not reveal about Gabby's backpack. The Sheriff thought that it open a can of worms and did not want to "spoil" the reputation of the town or Finn and others. And Renn was too "new" than to do anything. else.

Plus Gabby was not coming back and so they had a neat explanation to what happened.

But I thought ,Beverlyj, that Gabby's mom was still thinking she was out there and waited to hear more. She thought that the sheriff didn't do enough to find her. Could he at least told her that they did not think that she was coming back? could she not have been on the boat with Finn? How could they be sure she wasn't if the backpack was there?

Yes, it doesn’t seem right to have left Gabby’s mother hoping and wondering all this time. I was uncomfortable with that bit.

As always the police will keep many clues and things they find under their hats. Evidence is how a crime is solved and keeping some of the evidence under wraps may later cause the guilty party to say or do something suspicious. Keeping the fact they found Gabby's back pack quiet did not seem unlikely to me at all.