I'm affiliated with LE through my wife and a few friends in the southern California area. Virtually every LE guy I know believes it was Nick Holbert, though they have no official knowledge; just profession-based instincts and training from the tells they get from the media reports.
In addition, I don't sense that there is a vigilante mood out to get Nick, though VOH or other insiders can get that scoop more readily than me. But keep in mind that jail costs taxpayers money, and FTR ("Failure to Report," or a failure of an RSO to keep up with current registration requirements such as addresses and maintaining legal distances from restricted areas) bonds are rarely maxed out. It seem far more likely they just don't want him going anywhere, and in addition, they have extracted as much information as they need out of him to conduct the case.
Say what you will about the official response professionalism of LE as well. When I was at Bragg in the late 70's/early 80's in the 82nd, Fayetteville was one of the bottom 10 cities in the US for safety. Cities associated with army bases typically had a lot of problems, but as I understand it most of those cities have cleaned up as military personnel, in general, are much more professional throughout the ranks. But even with problems related with search parties, etc. (which rarely recover anything of value anyway), LE has been quite professional in their approach.
NOW, having said all of that, I am not going to state that Nick is the perp. But virtually all of the little signs point to him, and none of the little signs point to other POI's. LE might even have some major evidence against another POI that they haven't released which would change the ballgame. I'm only basing my opinion on my general knowledge of RSO's and the way they've treated Nick's FTR arrest.
Suffice to say if Nick turns out to be the perp, I'll be doing some heavy calling to the NC legislature to get GPS mandated for all RSO's, at their expense, for the duration of their registration, whether they are on or off parole. Had Nick been GPS'd, we either would know for sure he did it, or more likely, Kelli would be alive because Nick would have had serious thoughts before committing his deed and leaving a trail to every location he has been at.
