Hi all, I've lurked here for years and several cases but I don't think I've ever posted...I have lived in Iowa my entire life. I see a lot of you posting that you do not think the bodies were hidden very well or were left out in the open. I just want to clarify that in July when the girls went missing, those trees would have been so thick with leaves that you would never have been able to see in like you can in the recent photos. Our forests are dense with a lot of underbrush and debris(branches and what not) During the summer months the grass they are laying in would have been waist high on an adult. You could literally be standing right next to something and not be able to see it. Although many, many people enjoy parks like this in Iowa, most hikers would stick to some kind of trail (even if it was primitive) and not go off the beaten path. Hunters are different, they are specifically walking off the beaten path in order to scare up whatever it is they are hunting and now that it has frosted, the grass is laying down so they would have been able to see.
I hope that helps you guys from out of the area picture what it might have been like a bit more.