I keep thinking about the "she" witness being afraid to come forward, fearing being recognized by BG. An update yesterday afternoon from US News via the Associated Press states Sheriff Leazenby says the FBI sketch is the result of a witness who saw BG walking around the time the girls were killed. (Article link below.)
But if this witness just saw BG walking it doesn't make sense she would fear him. It had to be a more substantial encounter than that. What would have happened that left her with an indelible impression of BG months later? I'm thinking a close & threatening encounter. All day yesterday I was picturing this female is an adult, and maybe she had children with her, or he saw her get in her car, maybe she has vanity plates, something that could give him a way to track her or her kids down. But that seems such a stretch. And on top of that there was all the media coverage, the audio, the still pics, the family mourning, asking the public for help, RL's media attention and arrest. One would think the vast majority of adult women would be compelled to come forward rather quickly with something they knew or saw.
So then I started thinking what if 'she' is not an adult. What if she was another kid out of school and on the trail. She may or may not have planned to meet a friend or a boy, but at the time of her encounter with BG she was alone. What if
she were BG's first target and not Libby and Abby? What if he said and/or did something that terrified her and she somehow she slipped away from him? BG becomes enraged, because he's planned and come prepared, fully determined he'll succeed that day and his prey gets away. He then sees Abby & Libby and his state of mind propels him to become even more brazen and go for two victims. One would think a young girl would tell parents or a girlfriend, someone. Maybe she opted to tell a girlfriend but they both agreed to remain silent, let someone else out there (an adult) come forward. Or maybe she didn't tell anyone right away, remaining silent that night because whatever he said or did left her unable to fully process it. Then by the next day when Abby and Libby are found, the realization that it could've been her caused such a deep terror that she simply withdrew. Maybe as time went on she started showing signs of trauma; depression, anxiety, slipping grades and that's what brought it all out.
I guess what I'm saying is an adult witness is going to be more capable of reasoning how difficult it would be for BG to find & harm her, but a minor would not have matured enough to have that capability. An adult would feel compelled to report another adult. But a minor, and a potential victim of BG could be paralyzed with fear. So I could more readily see a minor holding back versus an adult. Just my thoughts rambling, feel free to shoot holes in my theorizing.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/indiana/articles/2017-07-17/the-latest-witness-aided-in-sketch-of-suspect-in-2-killings