People, his car was found in the same spot he typically parks it a few blocks from the Union. Yet, he told his mom he was "driving." Obviously, he was in a car not his own and had to have been with someone. Whomever was in that car with him is murder suspect number 1. I have said from the beginning that, unfortunately, he would not be found alive. Hopefully, they have tried to gain access to his accounts on every social media he has - including Grindr and Scruff. Someone earlier said he was active on either or both of those sites at midnight on the night he disappeared. This is clearly a murder. Could have been a passion killing. Could have been drug-related. Could have been a robbery. Not buying this nebulous smiley face killer theory -- it is too dramatic and covers too wide of an area.
All of your theories still fit within the smiley face murder theory. But you need to study the other 200 cases I have to understand this fact.