It is all speculation at this point, but I am from Charlotte and have followed this case since the day it happened. I attend Buckhead and the uptown area at least once a week, so I will share my information on the setting to give those not familiar with charlotte an idea of what its like.
Thursday night at Buckhead is college night. Here the drinks are cheaper, and the crowd is thinner than saturday nights. When an event such as the Dane Cook concert is in town, the crowd dramatically increases. When I go to Buckhead, we usually stay until 2:00 am. At this point everyone is heading out of the bar, and there is usually a medium sized crowd outside talking, waiting on cabs etc. We normally cross the street and go up a block or two to Fuel Pizza or Pita pit (beside each other basically) to eat. On weekends these places are absolutely packed out, and on thursdays there are still a small crowd in the pizza place.
Now, at this point of the night, the crowd on the streets begins to dwindle tremendously. I have friends on 8th street (buckhead is on 5th). When we walk in this direction at around 2:30 or so, it gets to a point where there is virtually nobody around. On the facebook page, Kyle's dad points out that where the remains that were found that turned out NOT to be Kyle, is the location he believes Kyle Lost his life. This is 12th street. This area is not some place I would even walk in alone during daylight hours. I stayed at a hotel near 11th street, and a rough looking man was beating on our hotel door trying to sell a radar detector at 330 in the morning.
I have never felt threatened the times I have walked alone, but I have been nervous a few times. There are many homeless people that are in the area who will approach you trying to sell things or ask you for money. As far as gangs, Charlotte has their share of them, and I am sure there are neighborhoods near the uptown that are gang neighborhoods, but you never readily see identifiable gang members in the area in my experience. At the point Kyle was making these calls, I can say from experience the area he was in was a ghost town with little to no traffic or people.
Based on the constant news stories I hear, most robberies uptown involve a quick stick up at gun point, and then follow with a shooting or beating. There was a teacher at UNC Charlotte who was put into a coma after being robbed in the uptown area. For me it seems unusual a typical robbery would result in someone totally vanishing, but its not out of the question. At this point everything is pure speculation, but I believe its clear law enforcement seem to have an idea what happened. The ATF being involved, and surveillance police won't release point to them building a case before making an arrest.....just my 2 cents.
