Untangling the confusing article, it looks like the time line was
Both parents dropped off the kids
Both went home.
Husband left for work with car, leaving her home.
Presumably she was working from home but never logged into work.
She was not there when he returned.
That’s the other thing - the writing is so bad I don’t know who drove off with the minivan at the end.
As far as what happened to her, if she DID drive off, there is the remote possibility she got herself in a heap of trouble off the side of a road. Has happened before.
Except she left vital stuff at home.