I used to live in Columbus and looking for updates on Joey Labute a few days ago, I found this thread.
I have been thinking about it a lot and there are some points I’d like to mention. They most likely will not be useful, but as long as there is a small chance they are... All of them are of my opinion.
1) Between 3:31 am and 3:52 am, Tyler's walking speed is consistent. About 400 m every 5 minutes, according to the map shared by LE.
In my opinion, that is strong evidence that he was not, from 3:31 to 3:52, running away from anyone or engaging in any activity inconsistent with walking at a constant pace.
2) Between 3:21 am and 3:52 am, the path he took is not inconsistent at all with just taking a walk, in my opinion. He was not necessarily in a state of confusion and/or "lost". Consider this:
+His speed was consistent.
+It is not until 3:52 am that we have evidence of his intention to go back, not before, so we cannot say that he was lost.
+ He could have been walking freely, relying on his phone to go back whenever he felt like it. In fact, that is what he did.
+Sure, walking through parking lots looks weird and makes him look lost and disoriented, but in the first parking lot, he could have first thought that it was possible to keep going forward, but then realized he could not and decided to turn to the right. At that point it is a 50/50 or perhaps, if you want to make your walk longer, you turn to the right.
+Tyler was able to operate different apps on his phone, apologize to Britanny according to her account of their conversations (he was able to determine what had recently happened and determine that he had done a mistake) and call her a couple of time to update her on his status.
I have the impression that many have already bought the idea that he was very disoriented and confused, but I don't think we have enough evidence to conclude that, even with a very low degree of confidence.
3) The temperature at that time was around 55 F, not 29 F as I heard in a podcast. You can check that here:
Columbus, OH Weather History | Weather Underground
It may have been somewhat windy, but I wonder how likely, given those weather conditions, a scenario related to hypothermia would be.
4) We know the only "woods" that Tyler has known in the area, up to 3:52 PM, are the ones in the oval.
5) There is a small house (maybe storage?), in the park/woods inside the ovall. I wonder if LE knows what it is, what is stored there, who works there, who has access.
6) The oval seems a secluded place. I would guess that it is a place where many things can happen unnoticed on a Sunday at 4 am. I wonder if people live in the buildings around the oval or it is just offices. Also, I wonder if there is evidence of the oval being used for illegal races late at night?
7) It could be the case that at 3:53 am Tyler's phone went into battery saving mode, turning the GPS off. It would be interesting to know how his phone operates.
8) We should not forget that Tyler could have decided to just go back to the hotel the same way he got to Abbot’s parking lot, especially if his GPS was automatically turned off at 3.52. Again, it would be interesting to know how his phone operates.
4, 5, 6, 7, 8 --> I would spend some time investigating around the oval. He may have been crossing the oval when, as claimed by Britanny, he called Britanny and told her he was going through the forest. If that call was placed at 4.10 and Tyler maintained his walking speed going back through the same route he had previously taken, he would be just in the middle of the oval, which I would also call a forest.
9) It is somewhat likely that Tyler knew how the hotel looked like at night, because they went to the Hilton at night, before going to the strip club.
10) While likely, I do not believe it should be assumed that the hotel Tyler was trying to get to was the Hilton.
Two important uncertainties:
11) I've seen two versions of when the call was placed where he told B that he was walking through a forest: 4.01 and 4.10. Does anyone know which one it is? I believe this is very important to know with certainty.
12) Why did Tyler try to call 2 minutes later? While the answer will only be known if the case is solved, I believe it makes a scenario where he needed help, more likely.