I know, and it can....I just worry!
One way it can is - does this mean it's time for a landfill search? Has anyone ever heard if they've done that/considered that? How easy is it to dump your clothing in a dumpster at 4 am, particularly a wayside on a deserted road?
I hate to say it, but I think the time to do a landfill search was like 30 days ago ...
Interesting, though - in the MH case, there's a suggestion that he was a "collector" - that he kept, at least, her shirt (and there were some other articles missing as well.) My supposition is that the Pantera shirt drop might have coincided with the (alleged) questioning of taxi drivers in that case - that he might have been made nervous by the questioning, and dumped the shirt at that time.
He showed up for work the following week - people said he was unusually quiet and withdrawn, correct? I've no doubt there are plenty of surveillance photos of him that week - but I'm wondering if at any point he was still wearing those clothes that week (apparently he loved those shorts.)
Probably doesn't much help in the search, now - I'm just trying to understand at what point did he realize he was vulnerable? When the tape played? When the statement from WG was printed? Or when the police showed up?
My guess is he realized sometime that week, before the police found his car, that he was vulnerable - and at that point, got rid of anything that might link him to HG.
So, his actions and movements from *that* point until the search warrant was served probably take on additional significance.
His missing clothes is pretty significant to me - if he "sanitized" himself, that is, if he got rid of his own clothing, then he'd also probably get rid of any "souvenirs" or clothing/articles that might tie him to this, or to other cases. I was hoping for lots of direct evidence linking him to other crimes - this makes that less likely.