That sounds right. Makes me think if Ted Bundy, who literally trolled malls (among other places) in search of his preferred victim - attractive women around 19 or 20.
The only thing about that is that Ive always had some issues with it being February. I live in a neighboring state, and while it wouldnt be unheard of to go for a walk or hike on an unseasonably warm day, yes, we get sick of being a bit shut up inside heated buildings all winter, it still seems to me like a hell of a longshot for BG to choose to go there hoping to find young female victim(s). Unless he is a local who knows that (apparently?) High school kids hang out there.
Im curious what Sgt Holman's hunch was about this (in response to Alexis McAdam).
I believe he trolled/researched websites which have information about the bridge, and the area around it, for some time. Then recon'd it, as in he visited the site at least one time, in the months previous. I'm thinking maybe Summer, last year, and possibly the Fall/Autumn. We had an unusual freeze here in Indiana in December, about a week before Christmas.
November.was warm, for the most part. I'm picturing BG in the bridge area after the leaves fell, after Halloween. Scouting the area, taking notes, noting how often people get on the trail, etc. I went hiking twice in early November, and remember how beautiful and unusually warm it was.
I've thought for some time the
time of year was just one variable which worked in his favor. This crime would have been more difficult to do, IMHO much more difficult to do, during the Summer and after school starts.
My BG had to have known certain things beforehand. Delphi schools had the day off. Unusually mild weather, for early February. It was sunny, that day. No snow or ice on the bridge or the area around it.Then we have all the variables...
It all had to fall together perfectly for BG, which to me explains why now we know that other trail users saw him that day. He was waiting until the 'perfect victims', or victim, fell into his cross hairs. He didn't care much about others seeing him, far as I can tell. It was a work day in Indiana, so there would be few working-age adults at the bridge, on an unusually mild February day.
Thinking out loud...
A lot of what we do here is 'Monday morning quarterbacking', as my dad used to say. Put yourselves in their 13/14 y/o shoes, though. To us, BG might look out of place, or there's some curiosity about why he's dressed a certain way, etc. Two girls that age may just look at him as being a bit odd, may have their guard up some, but they may not feel threatened, even with the guy walking across the bridge at a hurried pace.
I've mentioned before I could drive two miles down the road to Rural King, and see several BG's.
My BG was counting on that. Blend in. No logos on the clothing. Either bought his clothes right beforehand, new or at a Goodwill store, or some other sources. Or perhaps had the clothing in his 'pile'. If he's meticulous enough, maybe lined the driver's seat in his vehicle with plastic, to prevent fiber evidence from being left at the scene or on any victims.
BG could have walked the route I posted about in the last thread, perhaps several times, to get a feel for it, time himself, etc. Maybe he even called 911
under false pretenses, to "test" local LE/EMS/etc.. to test response time in Delphi, so if things didn't work out for him, he already had his escape route(cemetery, IMHO), picked out. I've read about various cases in recent years where people have used TracFones to test or deter local LE, it happens.
I just think BG looks at such scenarios as his "web", and he's the spider.
JMO