lisa IrwinDeborah Bradley hasn't had an easy few months. Her daughter, after all, is Lisa Irwin, the Missouri baby who went missing in the middle of the night back in early October. And in the weeks immediately succeeding little Lisa's disappearance, Bradley saw the news reports filling with dirty details that did not put her in a good light.

So it's not hard to understand why she's waited until this week to once again speak to national media. But if she thought the time lapse would earn her a sympathetic ear from Dr. Phil McGraw, she is sorely mistaken. Bradley and boyfriend Jeremy Irwin appear on McGraw's show tonight, but he's already made clear just what he thinks of this "distraught mom."

In promotional interviews for tonight's in-depth meeting between the parents and the psychologist, McGraw describes Bradley as a mother who misses her baby. But that's where the allowances he's giving her end. What McGraw refuses to answer is whether Bradley is innocent in the disappearance of her then 10-month-old child. In fact, he says she might just as easily be in pain because she's "riddled with guilt."

So much for coming out in public to convince someone to bring her baby back home to her. It sounds more like Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin are continuing to confuse people. They certainly aren't finding things getting any easier at home, where Deborah apparently told Dr. Phil they suffer through "ridiculous accusations" from their neighbors. I hate to say it, but if even Dr. Phil, a guy who pretty much tells it like it is, is a little iffy on these people, I don't know how "ridiculous" these accusations could be.

But then again, no matter how much time has passed, it's hard to put all that we've heard about this couple out of our minds and really approach this case with an open mind. Bradley has already admitted to drinking copious amounts of alcohol the night Lisa went missing from her crib. And the police have said they're more than a little frustrated with both her and Irwin. Hopefully the light they shed tonight will explain those things better, but it doesn't sound like it will.

Do you think the passage of time has helped or hindered the couple's cause?