He came from Michigan. Not Indiana though correct? He could have came down the coastline..but again I have no clue if he went to Chicago. Detroit is so much closer.
Oh, not saying he went to any particular location, but that the risk of getting pulled over and detected with JH tied up in a container in back is relatively minimal driving from Norton Shores down into Indiana and points South (maybe East to Ohio, West to downstate IL or further South down to KY or TN).
Going into Chicago or Detroit or any more heavily populated area equals greater LE and security apparatus presence (cameras, etc).
I was responding to the idea that it would be too risky for the perp to try to drive more than a few miles with JH in the vehicle.
I agree there's heightened risk during those few hours, but the reward is that once you get back to Muncie, Indiana, or Dayton, Ohio or Bloomington, Illinois, no one is really looking for you or your van...yet.
that is, the NSPD are talking to not only RSO's in the area around the adbuction site but also owners of that type of vehicle as well as folks turned in by tipsters.
A perp who successfully got back to someplace several hours away probably feels the risk of that drive was worth it at this point.
the only way they get caught is if someone local to them puts 2 + 2 together or they left a hard breadcrumb back at the store/in that area (paid for something with a ccard at the Exxon or maybe they checked into a local motel up there while casing the area on a prior trip).
these guys are already willing to risk getting interrupted mid-abduction at a highly public location. White-knuckling a few hours down the interstate back to wherever they came from probably is no big deal and maybe gives them a bit of a thrill.
It's also possible, as someone noted up thread, that this guy's a Ted K/Eric Rudolph type. Lotsa folks who border on that up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. And the rule of thumb up there is folks mind their own business.
Does the big bridge have cameras? I'd think it would and that's a major chokepoint between the lower and upper peninsula--absent a boat.