Sorry in advance that this will probably be another long one. :blushing: I hate the idea of casting suspicion on a specific person without any evidence, but I hope this is acceptable since it doesn't name the person (if he even exists.) Every time someone mentions LE saying that RL is not considered a suspect but is part of the investigation or that they're looking to clear him or make him more of a suspect, etc., I start trying to come up with ways that he could have been involved indirectly without having any idea what had happened. This is the best I've come up with.
RL has no license, but he has been said to have gone to Lafayette that day. There is no evidence I've seen that he drove there since that wasn't included in the charges that he was convicted of or those that were dropped. If that's the case, he must have had someone else drive him there. If so, they either took RL's vehicle or the driver's, I'm going on the assumption that they took RL's. I'm also going to base this on the driver being a female, although it could fit just as well for a male.
If the driver had planned on taking RL's vehicle, she may have gotten a ride to RL's place for a few reasons. She may not have a vehicle of her own, or hers may not have been running at the time; she may be married with just one vehicle in the family; she may have left her car home for her husband, boyfriend, child, parent, or whatever to use for the day. I'm sure there could be other reasons, but those are the most obvious to me.
The person she got a ride from could have been BG. They may have driven by as the girls were being dropped off by the sister and seen them heading down the trail. When he dropped her off and she and RL left, he could have parked at RL's house or over by the grain bin, knowing that he wouldn't be home for a few hours. Alternatively, it may be that he dropped her off at RL's and saw the girls being dropped off on his way home. Either way, he could have had some extra clothes in the vehicle such as a coat in case it cooled off, hoodie if it got cooler but not cold or too cold for just a light jacket, and whatever else he had with him in the picture.
It may have taken him longer than expected to actually do anything because there were a few other people around for a short time, so he didn't approach them directly until about 90 minutes after they got there. He could have done whatever he did to them, left them where they were found, stayed somewhat hidden in the wooded area until he was sure there was nobody around to see him and left. He could then just go home, clean up if needed, dispose of anything that might point to him for the crime, and wait for a call to go pick the driver up at RL's.
Very unlikely tale, but not impossible. I know it's unlikely that RL's driver had to be dropped off and picked up, but I'm tired of repeatedly going over the same things in my mind. As off the wall as some of my ideas are, I keep hoping that one of them will spark a much more feasible idea in someone else. The above is all from my mind and based very loosely on facts that have been shared.
MOO