Two things, first of all did you read all the threads posted last night? The body was in bad shape when they found it, they found it based on the strong odor. The theory that the killer was holding on to it and then HAD TO dump it last minute when the police arrived doesn't quite add up. If the killer were keeping this body close by in an enclosed space the smell would be horrendous and someone would quickly notice when they went sniffing around the apartments knocking on doors later that morning.
Refer to Jeffrey Dahmer. He had dismembered bodies stored in his apartment, LOTS OF THEM, and cops didn't even initially realize it. Neighbors did notice a smell, but in Jeff's case he had such a stockpile for so long that you can't even compare it to just one body. It is quite possible, given the lack of info, that the police didn't end up checking the unsub's residence--he may just have freaked out thinking they might.
I'm not saying all the dots add up, because I don't have complete information. However, clarify for me whether or not you think the body was placed there Thursday during the search? Because if so, then regardless of why it was placed there, it's still likely that the killer was staying close to the scene with that rotting body either way, so either way there was a smell. It's hard to believe someone could arrive in a car with cops around and go unnoticed, so I'm still thinking this was done on foot. I'd like to see a map/photos of whatever properties adjoined the complex to see if a wooded corridor existed, enabling someone to walk through that area rather than the parking lot/entrance.
I'm certainly not arrogant enough to think what I can make a 100% sure conclusion based on information that has been absolutely scant, but just based on the nature of the crimes I've been required to get to know intimately this just doesn't feel like a killer who is in control--many times during the initial phase of investigation it appears a suspect must be a mastermind due to the trouble cops have turning up evidence but then once they catch their man, it turns out he just got lucky.
Also, while I think cannibalism may be at play here, that's more of a question than a conclusion for me. I can't think of a single parallel to this crime, the details we know if it, where someone kept a dismembered body for so long without having the urge to either engage in cannibalism or necrophilia.
Regarding a hateful message, don't misunderstand I am not talking about some weird hollywood film type message that likely would only be known to a very few. I mean the torso being found makes sure everyone knows this was murder, not a missing person. The missing body parts and search through the trash is quite humiliating for the victim and ensures the public will become aware of the situation and have a very unsettlilng ugly mental image of the victim. I think that "message" was intentional, without the torso being found this would still be a backpage missing persons story which is exactly what someone afraid of capture would want.
I don't mean a Hollywood message either, nothing super crafty. I'm thinking of real world examples like the Hillside Stranglers, splaying their victims on hillsides for all to see, or even the Black Dahlia murder...if the limbs aren't found soon, they will be so decayed or lost that it won't have been much of a game at all. No shock value for the public if no limbs are found. If the limbs were meant to be found, I feel like they'd have been recovered already. If you dump a body with no limbs, you logically know that there will be a search for those limbs/the head and that garbage and wooded areas will be the first place anyone looks. The fact that they are checking landfills is an example of standard procedure more than anything else. Same with the plumbing, although that is a bit more clever.
If you wanted it to be known that Lauren is dead so badly that you'd dump the body in the midst of a search, you'd probably have left the body somewhere obvious from the start and left her in a state where she could be easily identified while still desecrated. The question remains, why hold onto the body all that time?
Gah, it'd be so much easier to make sense of this if I could go to the crime scene and see the layout.
