On a more serious note, I did hear that there was a lot more to the story than we are being led to believe.
Here is the story I heard from some NWA pilots: The captain had stepped out to use the lav when the frequency change came through - the F/O dials in the wrong freq (a Winnepeg center freq) and tries to check in, and gets no response immediately - the F/O is in conversation with the F/A when the captain returns and the F/O steps out, forgetting to inform the captain of the frequency change and that he has not checked in. In the mean time in Denver center there is a shift change and the controller expecting NWA 188 to check in fails to inform the new controller that NWA 188 has not checked in. So Denver center takes a long time before it recognizes that NWA 188 is not in radio contact. The captain, unaware of a frequency change during his absence and hearing radio chatter from Winnepeg center does not suspect any issues. From the NWA crew I spoke with, they were informed the laptops were only out about five minutes. But the strong 100+ kt tailwind, combined with the lack of proper notification of a frequency change between the crew members, the failure of one controller to notify the new controller of a failure to check in, the background chatter on the Winnipeg center, and the stress of rapidly changing procedures (in this case scheduling) due to the NWA/Delta merger, all appear to have contributed to this incident.
Anyway, take that for what it is worth. But that is apparently one explaination being passed around.