Hello all, I'm the long time BF with some understanding of mechanics. First a big thanks for the replies so far, much appreciated.
Please disregard pics and any mention of something pulling out of or back away from the trans case. Initially we had an inadequate jack with car sitting over dirt and could not get a good enough look at things. Once in garage with floor jack and stands and shifter boot loose it was obvious what we saw was the main linkage from shifter to where it enters the trans case. The pics were of same linkage rod so likely not the issue anyway. It appears to be zink plated and drew my eye to the difference of color.
To her comment "clutch works fine" I'm going to say the clutch feels and appears to be working, unsure if it's functioning or not. Things are starting to point towards the clutch in my opinion. However, there is no noise or resistance anywhere or anytime, car running or not, wheels rotated by hand, etc.. If the fiber fell off from the clutch disc would it still contact the flywheel? Is there anyway that the pressure plate could have seized in depressed position?
The transmission certainly feels and sounds correct in my opinion and hers. Thank you Glowyale for lessening my fear of any internal problems!
Further thoughts will be much appreciated. Thanks you for the help provided.