No, no you are not the only one feeling bad for the daughters.

Also, there is a bit of ambiguity here for me: if the girls are telling their mother, but not their apparently-more-controlling stepfather their whereabouts, then the safety issue is moot and it's just stepdaddy being a control freak.

And his snideness about "two daughters who do as they please" given that there is NOTHING in the letter that indicates that what they "please" is anything other than being basically responsible young people just gets my back up completely.