I apologize if this has already been discussed. I am still reading the posts on this board, but have not yet seen any discussion about this. Did the police report state that someone went through the purses? If so, who was it and why did they go through the purses? I find that terribly invasive. Particularly when I don't think there was any concern yet that the women had been abducted. If someone went through the purses, how did Sherill's purse end up in Suzie's room, next to Suzie's and Stacy's purses? Is that where it was originally found? Sherill's purse should have been in her room, or perhaps in a location she had always placed it, i.e., on the diring room table or near the coffee pot, where she would be sure to see it every morning.
From the start of the investigation, the police gave reporters almost full access to the house, evidence, and investigation. So, the very earliest reports (1992) give the most accurate information about the investigation.
The very earliest news reports state that the purses were found together in Suzy's room. The early news videos (on youtube) show scenes from the house and the purses all bunched together near the stairs on Suzy's room.
WHY Sherrill's purse is in Suzy's room is one of the big mysteries of this abduction. What scenario could have caused Sherrill to leave her purse in her daughters room? We must assume that Sherrill, like most mothers, would not normally leave her purse in her daughters room overnight.
As for going through the purses. Again, I'll go back to the very earliest interviews with the early witnesses. Janis McCall states during interviews that she was upset at Stacy for not calling to let her know where she was. When Janis showed up at the Delmar residence she intended to take Stacy's things and Stacy's car and remove them to force Stacy to call her when she (Stacy) returned from wherever she was.
Janis says she was sitting in Stacy's car, with her purse and other belongings and though 'wait a minute, this isn't right...'
Anyway, I'm assuming that at some point during this ordeal, Janis went through her daughter's purse- and Janis did remove the purse from the house at least one time.
It is also stated that they got Sherrill's address book and began calling numbers to see if the women were with people listed in the address book. I don't know where the address book was. I don't know if it was in Sherrill's purse or not.
From reading the earliest reports, I don't get anywhere that anyone started randomly rummaging through purses. I think the purses became more of a focal point after hours had gone by with no word from the missing women.
There's also an early report that stuff was 'rolling' out of the purses. Not sure what that means.
Also, at various times throughout this forum, people have wondered about Stacy's overnight bag. Was there one or not? We find reports of Stacy's swimsuit, Suzy's gym bag, all three purses, but no mention of Stacy having an overnight bag. Did she have one? Did it disappear with the women? Is that why Stacy's purse is on Suzy's gym bag? This is an item that has not been resolved through news reports (to my knowledge) and also remains a mystery