Photoshop Elements 15 Recompose Tool NOT WORKING

I am trying to remove a space between children in a photo using the Windows version of PSE15.

I am very familiar with the Recompose tool from prior versions of PSE. Never had an issue.

I highlighted each child in green to protect them. I drew a straight vertical line between them in red for the space to remove. When I pull the handle over from the right, it just squishes the entire photo together. Not only does it not protect the green portion of the photo, it does not eliminate the red.

In searching for help, I've noticed many others have had this issue and it never seems to get resolved.

I've watched numerous videos. I've "reset tool". I've "reset all tools". I've tried "highlighting skin tones". I've tried playing with threshold. I've restarted PSE15. I've watched the tutorials. I've tried Guided Edit. I've tried Expert Edit. I reset the PSE15 Editor preferences. I've completely uninstalled the program then reinstalled it. I've rebooted my computer. Clearly I've spent hours on this issue, yet nothing works. It seems to be a glitch with my PSE15 and nothing is fixing it.

This is incredibly frustrating. Please help!