I mean, there was never really a reason to ghost anyone to begin with. No matter what was happening, she could've taken a few minutes to just write two sentences to let everybody know what the deal with the game was. A big update with explanations and apologies, while nice, honestly isn't necessary. People just need something, like you said, and the sooner the better.
And while there may not be anything going on with her now, there definitely was at some point—health and family issues were mentioned in another thread. What I'm guessing happened, is that she got overwhelmed by these things and didn't post anything due to that, and now she likely feels too anxious to communicate at all since it's been so long (similar to what she described in this old update). But she really, really shouldn't think that way, since it's obviously avoiding posting that's the problem. There isn't anyone that wouldn't be relieved to hear from her, even if it is this late.
I also hope she can finish this in the future. All that seemed to be left was editing, proofreading, and maybe programming? It just wouldn't make sense to give up so close to the finish line, and it'd be such a waste of effort too. There was clearly a lot of thought, love, and time put into crafting this world with all its characters and lore. She owes it to herself, her backers, and her story to share it with everyone.