Is there any chance the perp (regardless of who it is) drove past the kids as they traveled to the store and took the opportunity to abduct. Some perps probably cruise on purpose, others just abduct on a whim when the opportunity presents itself. fwiw
Unless you live in the country, it's hard to understand the road situation there, perhaps.
This was a very dark narrow road that would have incredibly little traffic.
The boys did not remember a car. So, I would say that no one was cruising around.
And unless they knew the boys, they would not know how far they were going. There were houses by the Tom Thumb area, but after that, there was NOTHING but the farm,( which couldn't be seen from the road) and then the houses to the cul de sac which was a ways farther.
A car would be noticed. There would be ONE car. Not lots of cars.