I'm back to thinking it's JW. Here are the things that are sticking out about him and the impression it all is making on me. (I reserve the right to change my mind another few hundred times though).
HT - she felt the need to defend him saying that LS was the love of his life, etc it seemed like she was going just a little too overboard to defend him
One of his other friend (or friends) felt the need to publicly vouch that JW had gotten no calls or texts at all that night after the altercation. Seems strange, or again like HT, trying too hard to "clear him".
Unnamed person who had altercation with CR was friend of JW, AND ! LE has always downplayed that whole altercation aspect! To the point that the family early on was trying to completely deny any mention if it on their part - LE wanted that hush-hush?
Messy timeline by the other group of friends, but not factually impossible. We know that if LS was walking back on College, rather than the alley, that there were 2 blocks with no cameras to see her.
The parents consistently leaving the impression that someone closest to LS had info. Parents raved about JW very early on and then seemed to back off. (IIRC)
So, it seems to me that the friends are all feeling early enormous pressure on JW and coming to his defense. We also know someone was cleared by lie detector, and it seems very possible that they were asked by LE NOT to disclose that - I can't explain myself well, but I think that LE suspects JW and is intentionally leaving it muddy, so as to give him enough room to hang himself with. If just one person in the whole CR gang was cleared, it pretty much solidifies most of the story. Especially if it were JR - if JR was the one who passed the test, then JW would be sure to be the focus or a stranger. And that fits with the LE focus as far as I can see - they took the truck very seriously since it fit the JR timeline fine, but aren't taking the 3:38 suspect seriously enough to release a sketch that was rumored to be made, since this suspect doesn't fit the JR timeline at all.
I apologize if this is garbled... my brain is a little foggy today..
All I'm trying to say is that it seems that everyone seems to be going out of their way to make JW think he's not the primary suspect, but he actually is, and the family is trying to coax him to come forward on his own without pointing fingers. It seems too much like some kind of planned tactical maneuver to me.