I'm not sure why some are so baffled as to how one adult male could have easily gained control over two 13 yr old girls?
This question has come up a few times and has also been answered. I did some research pertaining to this specific scenario and found that more "successful" killers oftentimes target more than one person, or target families because it is Easier for the killer to control victims because they use the inherent love the victims have for one another to manipulate and better control the situation. Here is a quote on that very topic via
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...their-murders:
"Finally, as contradictory as it sounds, there are unsolved cases of killers involving entire families. One killer told me it was easier to kill more than one victim at a time. He said it can be easier to control victims by threatening their friends and family. Parents will do anything for their children, including agreeing to be tied up. He also said police are usually so mortified by the scene that mistakes can be made. So strangely, those that target families and more than one victim at once have been known to get away with multiple murders. If they are in control enough to keep quiet about the crimes, they are less likely to be caught."
Taking control of and apprehending two or more people is seemingly easier to do than just targeting one person.
*Please see the multiple accounts of Dennis Rader (he killed families), Ted Bundy, The Manson Family, The Zodiac Killer, Edmund Kemper, Danny Rolling *Gainsville Slayings, Donald Gaskins, etc... to see how and why killers sometimes choose to target more than one victim at a time.
LE described that A+L were controlled and manipulated by the love they had for one another; thus, this very scenario I have described above was confirmed by LE.
I'm not sure it's even worth mentioning but, besides the fact A+L loved each other, they were for all intents and purposes, just children. Children are way more vulnerable for obvious reasons and can be easily controlled in most circumstances.
Also, it has also discussed how/why the killer left Liberty's phone? ... I think she dropped it on purpose somewhere hoping it would be found... (Afterall, She was very smart and maybe she knew the killer would want to destroy it if he found it and she knew she was recording him.) I could imagine it would take a lot of time to scour the woods and the underbrush looking for it, maybe the killer just couldn't find it.
One more thing: I personally think the girls were left where they were killed. I do think it would be very difficult to find them in the very dark woods... There was moonlight and flashlights but even if the killer scattered leaves over them, I think it would be hard to locate them in such a densely wooded area in pitch black darkness. I also don't understand why it's so hard to fathom why they "should have" been found the night they went missing? I'm sure without light you probably couldn't see your hand in front of your face at night ... It just seems plausible that frantic searching in a very dark and secluded place could invariably leave some room for not readily or easily discovering the girls' bodies.