They were human.

They were under circumstances that made careful, detached evaluation of evidence extraordinarily difficult.

They had a need that this person’s presence addressed, and meeting that need required not looking too carefully at the evidence that would have made meeting it impossible.

This is not unique to this family.

It is a universal human vulnerability.

The desire to believe — particularly in the context of desperate need — can override the cognitive mechanisms that would normally produce more careful evaluation.

What is unusual about the Barclay case is that we can see this process documented in such detail.