I remember reading either here or elsewhere discussions about how hard it is to dispose of bodies quickly, and whether the PsOI in this case would have the time and wherewithal to do so in a manner that would evade discovery for 3 weeks.
Of course, bodies that never turn up are legion. But in the context of this LS case, I am reminded of a few incidents in which bodies have been disposed of and have either never turned up or turned up many years later.
In 2007, Carma Purpura was killed by Bruce Mendenhall and her body, according to him, was thrown in a dumpster behind Hardee's at SR37 and I465 on the Indpls Southside. He was charged after her blood and her ID were found in his cab. Her body was never found, probably because that dumpster's contents were regularly taken to Indpls' southside incinerator.
Ironically, Carma Purpura, a few years before her death, was involved in an incident where she and a boyfriend hid the body of a friend who had OD'd on heroin in their presence. They loosely buried the body under some leaves and dirt underneath a cell phone tower in Morgan County near Martinsville. The body was discovered by a hunter 9 months later.
That kid named Compton last year from Carmel, IN was killed in Louisville. His assailant said he threw the body out with the trash. Despite searching landfills for several weeks, his body was never found. He was charged because he was linked to the victim via computer records, and he confessed.
We all know, I think, about Jill Behrman, whose bones were discovered by hunters again in Morgan County 3 years after her disappearance. And if there was ever a case for Websleuths, that is it. I do not believe the person convicted is the one who committed that crime, but that is another story.
I also remember Billy DeSousa, a 10 year old Chicago area boy who disappeared in June, 1972 after telling friends he was going to a parking lot carnival near Cicero, IL. I grew up in that area, and was 12 when he dissappeared. His body was found by hikers in a wooded area in SW Cook County nearly 3 years after his disappearance. He was identified by the orange Tshirt he was last wearing that said I CANT BELIEVE I ATE THE WHOLE THING and by his rusted bike key that was found. His killer confessed to the crime sometime in the late 80s I think after being convicted of other child killings on the East Coast.
Anyway, these items tell me that it is not at all uncommon for perps to quickly dispose of bodies that remain gone for a long time, if not forever. BAsically, it is just luck and the circumstances. No one can look in every bit of woods. And often no one knows where to look.
Here, if LS' PsOI are the assumed perps, and given the circumstances (panic, quick decisions being necessary, limited time window to avoid detection, and the potential effects of stimulants and other drugs) it would seem to me that they would either have simply transported her body to someplace close and just left her fairly discoverable (like a vacant lot or field or not to far off a road or not to far into a wooded area), or placed her into a dumpster or similar container that is picked up (maybe a grease container outside a restaurant). Someplace that gets her out of sight fast but doesnt take too long.
Obviously I dont know anything about where searches have taken place, but those are my thoughts on it.
Finding the body is of course paramount. On another forum someone mentioned that her body would soon start to decay. Of course, her body has significantly decayed already given the time that has elapsed and the fact that we have experience several 85 and 90 degree days with high humidity and some fair amounts of rain in the past 3 weeks. The more her body decays, the less chance of finding actionable evidence.
Not to be morbid, but here is a site that outlines the timeline of decomposition that I found interesting to this point.
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Stages-of-Decomposition
