2014 Acadia: Neutral Safety switch issues?? Liftgate dead and/or engine won't crank

[brg]

Hi all. I have been experiencing 2 issues that I believe may be related.

1. Sometimes the rear liftgate is completely dead. It won't operate using the remote, the button on the liftgate or the button on the dash. No noises. Liftgate is latched and cannot be manually opened either
2. Occasionally when turning key to start, nothing happens. No dimming of headlights, no clicking of starter solenoid, nothing.

I think I have concluded from experimenting that if I either turn the ignition off then back on and/or wiggle the shift lever to be sure it is all the way forward (Park) it fixes both problems (for a few days). I also found a suggestion online for the liftgate to turn the key to ON and hold down the liftgate button on the remote for 5 seconds. That fixed it, but only until a few days later, so whatever that did, became subsequently undone

So I am wondering if it is possible that the previous time the vehicle was operated, the shift lever was not fully in Park when the ignition was turned off (or was, but the switch is getting marginal and didn't detect that it was). Or, if it was, but whatever control module has flaky memory and "forgets" that it was in Park. So that, in either case, some control module thinks the car was/is not in Park, and therefore prevents the engine from cranking and also prevents the hatch from being opened.

Questions:

1. Is this plausible?
2. Do any other potential causes come to mind?
3. If it could be the switch, is there anyway to easily confirm that?
4. Is the switch located under the front console and attached to the shifter, or is it attached to the transmission itself?
5. If it is located under the console, can anyone point me to instructions/steps/videos to remove the console? I found YouTube videos for newer Acadia's suffering from an apparently common parking switch error message on the dash, but those consoles look quite different so I am not sure the same steps are needed and/or whether the older Acadia's have the switch there whereas the more recent ones have it on the transmission, etc.
6. If it could be a control module, which control module would it be, and where is that located (again, instructions for removing it would be appreciated)

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, suggestions, instructions, links to videos, etc. I have found other Service manuals online, but not for the 2014
Bruce