Just putting out here some miscellaneous thoughts I've jotted down as getting caught up on the case. Perhaps a memory will be jostled in someone out there. I live in Indianapolis. Can separate into sections if need be for brevity/ease of reply.....
1) Sunset on 2/13/17 was 6:20PM, and pitch dark by 6:48PM...We know the girls were still alive and appeared in no danger at 2:07PM. I have not yet located a Moon (Full?) status for that evening but I see, without higher-than-normal moonlight, that area being very difficult to traverse in pitch darkness. (e.g. no streetlights or house lights, rugged/hilly, certainly unpaved, etc). Would seem either the entire heinous act was carried out in some degree of light in this late-afternoon 3+ hour timeframe, possibly even after the missing-persons report was filed at 5:30PM, or some parts were conducted after dark, though more longshot that unintended footprints, dragprints, dropping of an item, any consequences of covering, carrying, transporting or attempting to hide bodies, etc type evidence would've been left behind in the dark. It began to get light the next day at 7:12AM.
https://sunrise-sunset.org/us/delphi-in/2017/2
2. Through the Hughes video and Melvin video, it's discernible that someone on a hike (casual pace - steady yet not brisk) could've covered the territory from where they were dropped off to the start of the bridge in approx 12 minutes, plus another 3-ish minutes to Platform #3 where the snapchat photo of Abby occurred. However if they were dropped off around 1PM and that photo was taken at 2:07PM, it took them over an hour to cover what might've been hiked in 15 minutes. Perhaps they were on a 2nd passthrough (& BG had spotted them earlier) or they were stopping frequently, in no hurry. (could explain why BG caught up with them on the bridge when per snapchat girls were halfway across with no one in sight behind them yet BG later walked 85% of the bridge before they finished the latter half). Yet if they took frequent breaks, there's no evidence that Liberty took more than the 2 pics earlier so what did they do during their breaks?. It does make a difference whether LE has actual phones or pulling from cloud. If they have phones, they should be able to determine whether other SM was viewed by either/both, either to solidify a timeline, whether an SOS-type call was attempted to 911/elsewhere by either girl, whether Abby took any photos, or other clues. Or perhaps the girls didn't start the hike immediately after being dropped off...instead meeting someone or going somewhere else first outside the trail system. Or do we even know if the 1:00 dropoff time can be verified?
3. I tend to ascribe to an earlier theory that, instead of approaching the girls from behind in the same southeasterly direction as the girls were headed, BG may have either been on a return across the bridge or began on the bridge at the southeast end and crossed them....then pivoted and followed them. This would explain how no one was seen behind Abby in the snapchat at the bridge's halfway point yet caught up and corraled them prior to getting all the way across. It could also explain why Libby immediately sensed danger - if the girls had done this bridge many times before it may not have scared them to encounter someone but would have if he changed courses from passing them to following them. Lastly, if BG had just come from the area he eventually lead them to, it would've made him more confident that "down the hill" terrain was void of other hikers/fishers.. Where I stumble with this theory is that BG may have had to climb up from the "down the hill" rather treacherous terrain, and that there would've been no need to conceal his weapon if confident they wouldn't encounter anyone. After watching the Melvin videos scrutiny of the bridge's condition (gaps between planks & rotting of multiple boards), I also grapple with a plump 40's-50's man traversing that, especially if trying to go up-speed in order to catch up to someone(s), with hands in pocket and not using arms to help balance self.
4. We certainly don't have the evidence or desire to question anyone like Libby's judgment, especially in that heat of moment scenario, but as another earlier pointed out - if she had the time/ability to video BG AND felt in danger then, could she have called 911? Or does this indicate she knew BG or didn't feel threatened at that moment by him? The above-mentioned videos suggest she took that video from approx 75 ft away from BG, thus a very reasonable head-start for athletic teen girls in sweat attire compared to an older heavy-set man in jeans/workboots, had they felt the need to escape - not just in speed but capacity to navigate hills/turns/climbing rocks, etc. Obviously the presence of a gun/hostage could've altered their thinking. They may have even seen him coming from much farther away than the time of video. Certain things might indicate they didn't truly feel threatened until it was too late.
5. Lastly, my hunch is that BG is the hybrid type of person that wasn't living in the Delphi area at the time, but had familiarity with Delphi in the past. I'm thinking someone who grew up there 30 years ago or perhaps someone who's grandparents lived in Delphi and they maybe spent a couple weeks every summer there. Stetching farther, it would make sense if these potential grandparents were buried in the cemetery near RL's place and BG was passing thru near the area and pulled off to visit his relatives' graves and something angered him there or took him down some wild emotional path. Knowing the cemetery area would also provide familiarity with where a parking spot could've been and/or how he came to enter the bridge from the "wrong" or other side. It just seems too unlikely that a drifter would stumble onto this spot, attempt to cross this rickety bridge for the first time, know where to order the girls to, figure out how to escape from a somewhat dense area a mile from where he parked or entered the trail from, and not leave clues or be seen.
Like all of you too, let's hope and pray for justice to be served very soon!!
