That is what happens when the case is never solved. What a terrible burden for innocent people to carry through life.
One of the husbands where BTK had murdered his wife was a suspect too the entire time (21 years iirc). If they hadnt found that he still would be in the crosshairs being falsely accused.
It ruined this man's life.
Since the police have put abduction on the table early on Im reposting this link that has
775 solved cases in it.
Child Abduction Murder Study
Key findings:
In 44 percent of the cases studied, the victims and killers were strangers, but in 42 percent of the cases, the victims and killers were friends or acquaintances.
Only about 14 percent of the cases studied involved parents or intimates killing the child.
Almost two-thirds of the killers in these cases have prior arrests for violent crimes, with slightly more than half of those prior crimes committed against children.
The primary motive for the child abduction killer in the cases studied was sexual assault.
In nearly 60 percent of the cases studied, more than two hours passed between the time someone realized the child was missing and the time police were notified.
In 76 percent of the missing children homicide cases studied, the child was dead within three hours of the abductionand in 88.5 percent of the cases the child was dead within 24 hours.
http://www.atg.wa.gov/ChildAbductionResearch.aspx