I was a year younger than Jacob and lived in the area—my neighbor worked for his dad and he would have attended my rival high school, so this case has always been close to me. A couple months ago I read Joy’s blog and began formulating theories. While I doubt DR is the perpetrator, I do feel he know more than he is saying and this led me to putting together a scenario (this is solely based on speculation).
DR is a member of an anonymous secret society that engages in varying levels of deviant activity—he’s a man, he has desires. Many of the members of said society aren’t good people—criminal people (could be a priest in there, but not exclusively priests and not tied to the abbey). While out for his run, DR makes contact with a person from said society and invites this person to his home with the folks out of town and all. The person comes to DR’s place via car after dark but before the boys head to Tom Thumb. This visitor & DR do whatever it is they do and this stranger, whose name DR never even learns, takes his leave.
Not wanting to draw attention to the fact that he is leaving DR’s house which might raise questions if anyone saw him there, the stranger drives slow and with the headlights off to avoid down the grass along the driveway here his tires do not make noise on the gravel all in order to avoid detection. The boys pass right by him sitting in the driveway too caught up in their own excitement of exactly which movie they intend to rent to notice him. The stranger spots the boys and stops the car watching them and maybe even listening to their conversation with the engine now turned off—they’re going to rent a movie. He estimates that he has maybe 20 minutes to prepare. He parks in the ditch and maybe throws a branch or brush over his car to disguise any parts that might reflect whatever light there may be. He grabs the gun and mask he keeps in his car for any opportunity to present itself for attacks and he waits.
When the boys return, he takes Jacob. When DR calls 911 and learns about the missing child he thinks the timing is suspiciously coincidental with the time his visitor left, which is why he talks to the cops to find out if he can make any link to his visitor and this missing child. Given nothing conclusive, DR can’t make a link to his visitor and decides to say nothing—why expose both himself and the entirety of this secret society if this guy, whose name he didn’t even know, had nothing to do with it. He thought he would wait and see if he learned anything more that would tie his friend to the case. Years go by and he says nothing and now its too far past to say anything without self-incrimination as an accessory at the least. He feels guilty to some extent though and the clues he is giving are pertinent in some way but extremely vague and maybe slightly off. He does, however, suffer a personality disorder of his own so his guilt goes only so far further compelling him to remain silent.
