The public was never informed about whether JR's purse and/or shopping bags were found in her car, were we? I wish we knew one way or the other since it could give us a better idea about when and where her disappearing took place.
I tend to think she never went/made it to Syracuse to shop (whether she intended to or not), simply because if she was abducted after the fact, then there would probably be bags in the car. I imagine that would be made public, and that LE would be more willing to believe she met with foul play.
Trying to be the devil's advocate here and theorize from a different angle than the two main theories.
Okay, let's assume she really intended to go shopping and this was a random act. Assume there were no bags/purse in the car, implying she never made it to Syracuse.
If she was driving in her vehicle and had a full tank (as we are led to believe), then I assume she had no reason to stop at any point before getting to her destination. How then did someone even have the opportunity to take/harm her? Any ideas? :waitasec: Could she have stopped for some reason? Perhaps in Norwich...to get some coffee or breakfast for the road? The only convenient place to stop that I see on streetview of googlemaps on HW 23 would be the Mobil gas station before entering Norwich. But even if she did stop, wouldn't that be a really obvious scene to be taken from?
Just scratching my head to try and make a random act even possible....which I don't think it is. JMO...