I think it's just a case of cryptocurrency being such a confidence-based thing - if people don't see the devs / PR being active, they might start to worry. While appreciating that I am still very much a beginner at all this. it seems to me that there have been a number of unscrupulous teams in the past who just grabbed the money and ran, so it's only natural that people would be a bit nervous that devs of other coins would do the same. I'm sure the vast majority of the people who frequent this thread genuinely hope for the best and wish to see HYPER go from strength to strength, but that won't stop people also fearing the worst.
This. The thought that someone not showing up for an extended period (a week+ is huge in crypto time) wouldn't affect anything is asinine. It has a direct impact on people's confidence in the project.
Do I believe that he's gone, working on something related to the project to help give it value? Yes. But what you or I think means absolutely nothing. It's the community as a whole that matters. And when someone is missing or not showing up on a regular basis, the community takes it as a negative sign.