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So many scenarios are possible. I know that people don't want to seem to accept the fact that he *could* have walked away to a new life, but I guess that might be because his wife doesn't believe that. In her having him declared dead, she listed the reasons why. I still think suicide is a possible scenario but I know many won't believe that. The thing is, you never know what the true state of someone's mind is.
Some have suggested a robbery gone bad, but many don't think that true, because the lack of missing things and the fact that he is not found. Robberies gone bad usually end with the victim dead and present. Plus what robber locks up behind them, after taking nothing?
Kidnapping? No ransom request makes that unlikely.
A romantic rival? Possibly. Would someone kill him to be with his wife? It's happened before.
Walked off with amnesia? Could be. It's happened before.
One thing I always keep in mind is the saying, "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras."
What is the most logical scenario, when you take into consideration all that we know?
If you're making a chart with all of the possibilities (that we can think of) and putting facts under each 'theory' which theory has the most points in its column?
We're still considering walk-off and suicide, but the are in the "unlikely but not 100% ruled out" category from my perspective.
If he walked away to a new life, my question is simple - where is he? From his history, we know he is not afraid of divorce. Also from his history, we know he values family and friends and those relationships and would maintain them even in a "new life." So what's the motive for him to change his MO?
If he committed suicide, my question is also simple - what steps did he take for his suicide to be so impossible to detect? No car service has been uncovered, we've canvased places that could have sold him a car and no one has. No weapons are missing. Searches returned nothing. And again, knowing how much he values his family, why would he do things like stage blood? Lock up? Turn off lights? Why was he so calm and normal on the Walmart tape? To me, from a logistical standpoint, this one doesn't make sense.
If it was a robbery - you're absolutely correct. Robbers aren't known to be polite, considerate people. That's laughable. Also, seemingly very little - if anything - was actually taken. If they cornered him in the shop they had access to at least one gun, car parts, tools, CARS, TRUCKS, many things of value. If they cornered him in his truck, why not take the truck or the cash? If they cornered him in the house, why not take anything - electronics, jewelry, guns? This one doesn't make sense. Unless they freaked out because they didn't think anyone was home, but then they had to have seen the truck.
The others I agree with you on, point by point.
I have too many puzzle pieces or too many different shapes, sizes, colors, patterns... for this puzzle and it's making me not know where to start even framing things.