Wondering if the lights were on because the family had them on, or if the LE turned them on (after dusting for prints), or perp/s put them on to look for something, or to throw LE off timing of disappearance?
Some tidbits I found interesting, fwiw...
http://science.howstuffworks.com/csi3.htm
"Consider This
Crime scenes are three dimensional. CSIs should remember to look up.
If a CSI shines a flashlight on the ground at various angles, even when there's plenty of lighting, he'll create new shadows that could reveal evidence.
It's easy to recover DNA from cigarette butts.
While searching the scene, a CSI is looking for details including:
Are the doors and windows locked or unlocked? Open or shut? Are there signs of forced entry, such as tool marks or broken locks?
Is the house in good order? If not, does it look like there was a struggle or was the victim just messy?
Is there mail lying around? Has it been opened?
Is the kitchen in good order? Is there any partially eaten food? Is the table set? If so, for how many people?
Are there signs of a party, such as empty glasses or bottles or full ashtrays?
If there are full ashtrays, what brands of cigarettes are present? Are there any lipstick or teeth marks on the butts?
Is there anything that seems out of place? A glass with lipstick marks in a man's apartment, or the toilet seat up in a woman's apartment? Is there a couch blocking a doorway?
Is there trash in the trash cans? Is there anything out of the ordinary in the trash? Is the trash in the right chronological order according to dates on mail and other papers? If not, someone might have been looking for something in the victim's trash.
Do the clocks show the right time?
Are the bathroom towels wet? Are the bathroom towels missing? Are there any signs of a cleanup?
If the crime is a shooting, how many shots were fired? The CSI will try to locate the gun, each bullet, each shell casing and each bullet hole.
If the crime is a stabbing, is a knife obviously missing from victim's kitchen? If so, the crime may not have been premeditated.
Are there any shoe prints on tile, wood or linoleum floors or in the area immediately outside the building?
Are there any tire marks in the driveway or in the area around the building?
Is there any blood splatter on floors, walls or ceilings? "
bbm.
This case is so odd and so scary.