@RocketQueen
Awesome detective work. I started to go down the rabbit hole and got sidetracked by photos of Abbie from Candy's FB when she was younger and she looked so happy and alert. I know photos only capture a moment, but dang, the many pics I saw of Abbie spoke volumes. She was alert, engaged, and had such a sparkle in her eyes, unlike now.
As for Mr. Coker, WOW, just wow. How very sad. I remember this incident when it happened.
My goodness, what an awful undeserved ending to his life.
I'm truly baffled about the link between Candy and those ladies and cannot figure out how she fits into the story. My best guess is your last suggestion, that she was their step mom for a short period of time before meeting Wayne and has maintained a relationship with them.