is there a chance that between 11:00 dropping brother off and 11:20 debit card swipe at Chevron that AB might have met IY and driven IY to the Chevron? If this was a setup, perhaps one of AB's friends asked AB to meet IY (or someone) for some reason (drugs/money/ or something where this 3rd person had value) and thats how they were both in the store at the exact same time? Wasnt it reported that AB was considering going out that night and the brother tried talking her out of it? Perhaps going out meant meeting someone per a friend's request. Then when they got out of the gas station IY flipped the script and kidnapped AB.
I just know based on us knowing where the Chevron is from where her brother supposedly lives doesnt take 20 min to drive there. More like 5- 10 min tops. I grew up in that area and I know it doesnt take 20 min to drive that distance, if the timeline is correct.
I am just guessing at this and trying to make sense of how both were in the same place at the same time and why IY was in Auburn in the first place if he was just looking to rob someone(wouldnt it be easier at one of the campuses in Montgomery?).
I just cant grasp why IY who is known to be a setup type of criminal to randomly abduct someone in AU that night if he didnt have a lead on an easy target like AB. Certainly, there were much closer geographical marks in the Montgomery area where he was much more comfortable.
When I was in college I just remember many girls who fit AB's and her circle of friends persona(s) who would lightly associate with people who were on the wrong side of the law for items they couldnt get in their normal circle. It always just surprised me that they just seemed comfortable with these types of people because they lived their lives in a bubble of false security and sometimes those relationships ended in the exact way I thought it would by the person who was not a part of the circle ripping off one of the girls or gullible guys. I even remember girls dating these guys and it not ending well for the girl who wasnt from their world. It triggered me back then because I grew up with kids of all types of backgrounds and had a good "radar" of characters who were just bad people; yet, these girls and gullible guys always assumed that they were presented with no harm because they were getting the items that they wanted until the wolf took off the sheep's clothing.
This is an interesting theory, and hits on something that I hadn't quite figured out how to articulate. If we're thinking that IY is the person by the door at the Chevron when Aniah walks in, and that he is on the way out the door, it's hard for me to figure out what happened. He would have barely had time to see her, and then maybe just a minute or two to get ready to abduct her. I tend to overthink things, but in my mind, this presents some weird practical challenges. He needs to know which car is hers. He needs to know if there are other people in her car (boyfriend, husband, kids, friends, dog). Whoever else is in the car he arrived in (accomplice, we're assuming) needs to know that he's about to kidnap this girl and leave in another car, which can't have been planned ahead of time if he didn't even see her until after he was in the store. She is much smaller than he is, so if he shoves her into her car (passenger seat or back seat), he probably has to adjust the drivers seat before he can even fit. What keeps her from just getting back out of the car? Then he has to figure out where he's taking her. He doesn't strike me as a great plan-on-the-fly kind of guy, so this just feels like a lot to pull off during what would have apparently been a normal trip to the gas station for him.
On the other hand, if this was a set up, I can't figure out how he's already in the store. It's not a place you hang out and wait. I can't think of any scenario where he knew she was going to be there and was planning to specifically take her, and was already in the store and on the way out the door when she walked in.
The other possibility is that it's not him leaving in the video when she arrives, which would open up more scenarios and also add another potential witness/POI to the list. That person should be clearly on video and known to LE if it's not IY. It's so hard to tell for sure, but in the
video of her, you can actually see some of that person's shirt/jacket around 0:01 and it doesn't look to be the Vans sweatshirt. Maybe just poor video quality, but interesting.
So I think your idea of them possibly having some interaction prior to the abduction is a good one. I've wondered all along if she potentially offered a ride to someone at the Chevron who said they were having car trouble. None of the carjacking-at-the-Chevron theories have completely fit in my mind, and I have trouble putting too much confidence in the witness account. All just MOO.
