Dodie, you and Whisp brought up very good points...AGAIN. Now that you mention it, why would Ron lie about picking up Haleigh? If it was to explain away any DNA, hair, etc, I would assume Ron had to lie because he claims that was the last time he saw her-after school.
Think about this: If Ron told us that he did not pick up Haleigh from the bus stop, that would mean that the last time he saw Haleigh was that morning, before school, according to their story. Assuming Ron had on street clothes that morning and changed into his work clothes sometime that afternoon, I believe that Ron needed an "out" as to why Haleigh's hair, etc was on his WORK clothes. The only thing Ron could come up with was he picked Haleigh up from the bus stop, right before leaving for work and Haleigh had been placed on his lap to drive home. I think the story is bogus and he went a little overboard with the lie. He needed to establish a reason for Haleigh's hair, etc being on his work clothes. If Ron picked up Haleigh from the bus stop right before he left for work...one would assume that he had on his work clothes. If Haleigh had been on his lap prior to leaving for work....one would assume that Haleigh left something behind on his work clothes. In the beginning I focused so much on the fact that he said he picked up Haleigh but Misty and witnesses said that Misty picked her up. Now, I think the timing of the event (right before work) and the fact he stated Haleigh was on his lap, is most important. IMO, Ron thought this lie would explain the obvious....Haleigh's hair, etc, being found on his work clothes. Afterall, Ron claims when he got home from work his daughter was gone.
That leads me to believe that Ron saw Haleigh AFTER he said he did, and the reason for the lie, was because the last time he actually saw Haleigh, she was being carried away.
JMO of course