I think kids were drawn to the creek to explore. All kinds of cool stuff creek side, even caves somewhere nearby.
Wilsons Cave on Deer Creek The sandbar in this pic even looks like the bend in the crime scene pics, but I have no idea how close nearby these were. Still, as a kid? I'd be drawn. When I was young we explored such places, but Deer Creek sounds more promising than even our haunts, although we found neat stuff like rocks, even an arrowhead once. Deer Creek was likely a good place to explore. Natives once likely lived alongside the creek, using the sand bars for purposes like swimming, washing, bathing. An artifact hunting guide I recently acquired even suggests creeks as good spots to hunt points, or other items, even graves. Problem is, while it might be ok with permission in some places in Indiana there's a problem. About a year ago, a few days prior to the press release when the new sketch came out, a couple in Indiana was arrested for artifact looting not too far from Delphi.
Southern Indiana couple accused of looting American Indian artifacts says they 'try to be good people' Now, I don't think this couple murdered anyone, but could they be a link in the chain to identify the girls' killer? They were after stuff to sell for profit I'd imagine, indicating a black market trade in artifacts. Did they alert LE to someone in their shadowy network, thus generating this sketch?
Libs warned not to trespass. What drew her there? Caves. Artifacts. Natives used this area. Problem? Artifact looting. Stiff penalties. Someone threatened because she knew.
Why all the secrecy? Maybe they don't want a bunch of gawkers exploring the creek. This area after all is pretty much a historic area...
Just my thinking. Several facts. Guide yourself on any conclusions but I think it could be relative to what happened.