Do you know any similar places where you live? I can think of quite a few, two within walking distance, in suburbia. I think they are everywhere there is open land and probably many places in very built up areas as well. I imagine all it takes is to go to a random new place and spend a few days working it out. Think Israel Keyes, the railway rapists in the UK in the 80s - they enjoy the reconnaissance. Drive into a town, look at a map, spend a day or two to walk around a few likely spots, get the lay of the land, plot your escapes, survey who walks by to know if a suitable victim will present when you are ready. If you go random with that first selection of a town, the meaningfulness of the location and time and victims with regards to the murderer is vastly reduced. He is there because every town has a place suitable, and every town has vulnerable girls and women going about their business, exercising outside or walking from place to place.
I hope this is wrong and he has links to the place, because unless he commits this sort of crime again and stuffs up, I am not liking their chances. I had no idea they released the image so soon after the girls were found. I can only imagine how confident this would have had them, and six months later, how worn out they must be.