Random thoughts. (I do this a lot)
I'm going back and thinking. He bought a soda for $1.71. Take off .09 tax and you have $1.62. This tells me it was most likely a fountain drink (44 oz) rather than a can or bottle. So I wonder if the drink container was found. If not, he may have stopped somewhere to throw it away. I'm thinking of any video that might be tracked down.
I'm thinking that the duffel bag (as in the bag that was opened in the back) might have been one that had the tool he used to break the back window. Was this a tool bag he kept in the back of the car for emergencies? (We have one in all of our cars with an emergency tool-breaks glass and cuts seat belts, screwdriver/wrench set, emergency lights, duck tape, baling wire and a pair of panty hose-great replacement for broken alternator belts-don't ask me how I know this. In the front there is a pocket knife and flashlight). If it was an emergency bag, was anything missing from the bag? (The parents should find out)
If he drove to the crash area two times, it might be because the signage says that you must have a valid permit or be towed (at least it used to). He may have thought he couldn't park there (although I have a time or three, but not recently). It starts getting desolate past that road, so that would be the normal place to turn yourself around. He might have gone back to another area to sleep, but got rousted by someone to move his vehicle and went back towards the lake, Bryce could have stopped at the cell phone tower to sleep (there is ample room to park to the side of the fence), but because it was so hot, left the car running and/or didn't get it in "park" or set the emergency brake, he fell asleep and the car rolled down the hill. He woke up in time to grab the steering wheel and flip it over. I'm just seeing how it could actually get there by accident.
Did he have a phone charger? Or was his phone dead? That would be a reason to leave it behind. A lot of people don't drive with a wallet if they normally keep it in their back pocket, either. Leaving the laptop makes sense, as it had no useful purpose.
I have helped people who flipped their vehicle and had to kick out the back window. (3 kids and 2 adults) They hit a slick patch, went up about two feet on the side of a hill and because they turned the steering wheel too fast, flipped completely over. They were on autopilot, the kids just standing in the middle of the road when my friend and I arrived. The adults didn't even notice the kids were standing in the middle of the road. We put the kids in our car and wrapped them in blankets, and they just sat there staring until someone familiar (a parent in another car) finally came and got them. The two adults just kept pacing around, even though one had a broken arm. He wouldn't let me splint it, he wouldn't let me bandage his cuts, he wouldn't accept a blanket, he kept throwing it off. If Bryce crashed, broke the back window and got himself out, he would be disoriented, probably hurt. He might have paced for a while. If he could have seen lights, that would most likely be the direction he would go. Otherwise, he would head back the direction he came, if he knew where that was. Has anyone checked Castaic Lagoon? That is where the campgrounds are and he would have passed that on the way in. It was Labour day weekend. Even at 2:00am, there should have been cars around. If there was someone following him, they could have picked him up (that would not probably be good).
I'm going to go check for a thread on him.
lease: