If this case was misled early on, I’d guess it pertained to this below, a sort of NIMBY, a suggestion of a transient, a stranger just passing through. I can just imagine it led to everyone who regularly drove the highways to start wracking their brains “Did I see somebody, what day was that?”, then maybe even convincing themselves it probably was that particular Monday and sure, his clothing was the same as the guy in the photo which has already been released. It’s simply human nature for human memories to sometimes be influenced by suggestive details. At most, motorists likely would’ve passed by in their vehicle and barely caught a glimpse. But once LE began getting calls by numerous people who all thought they saw the suspect on the highway, it firmed up their theory and thus, the later release of the sketch of the ragged looking guy. As time passed it’s possible many of these witnesses began to become uncertain.
JMO
Feb 20, 2017
See somebody walking near Delphi? Call police
“If you saw a hitchhiker or somebody walking along roads in Delphi last week, the police would like to talk to you. You could help find who killed Abigail Williams and Liberty German.
Police are asking the public to try and remember if you saw somebody Monday, Feb. 13 in the late afternoon or evening.
"We're asking people that were driving down the Hoosier Heartland that might have seen a hitchhiker or someone walking. We're asking people that live in Logansport all the way to Lafayette, if they saw somebody late that afternoon, that evening of Monday the 13th, if they saw somebody walking down the roadway that just did not look like they should be there, or they're just a hitchhiker, we would like to talk to that person," said Sgt. Kim Riley, Indiana State Police...”