It's likely her remains never would have been found with the amount of thick forest/woods in and around that area. She was so close, really, but searchers never looked in that area. Even if they had, she could have been missed.
There were all kinds of theories the first year she was gone -- one had her going AWOL from the army, running away and hiding out in a cave somewhere (I guess Bin Laden style). Or hiding somewhere on a beach sipping cocktails.
Several theories had her husband sneaking into town from FL, somehow without being detected through a cell phone, and "following" her and Nick Holbert from the bar, where he just so happened to snatch her right off the street at the moment when Nick dropped her off 1/4 mi from her apt. Why that seemed more likely than the RSO who had a bizarre story that made no sense being the perp is anyone's guess.
LE said from the beginning that Holbert was their POI, but I guess they weren't believed. The probable was often discarded in favor of the bizarre. And somewhere along the course of the first year, Holbert was imagined by some to be a misunderstood young man whose violent sex offense against a 5 yr old when Holbert was 16, was just an indiscretion that shouldn't count and Holbert was being setup to take the fall for Kelli's disappearance. This particular theory had KB's husband coming to town and somehow doing the deed and setting up the RSO (who the husband never met or knew). Ridiculous.
Horses vs Zebras.
