Good info, Lilibet. I didn't see Brooke Wilberger or Whitney Heichel on these lists but I'm certain (Sasquatch can say for sure on Whitney) that in neither case LE had a body before making an arrest. They worked from circumstantial evidence and probable cause and a huge dose of common sense. That's why the first week after Stephanie's disappearance was so crucial in her case.
People seem to think that the "slower" the investigation is, it means they're collecting evidence. So this means in Stephanie's case, when they do finally catch up with the perpetrator..... we should be expecting truckloads of files and information from every single cell tower company in that area, her bank records, property deeds/contracts, Internet/landline records, YouTube accounts, Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts, cells phone activity for all involved, computer contents, medical records, DNA lab results, vehicle info for all involved, soil samples. In other words, months and months of evidence that has been gathered from DAY ONE --- it should one day be perfectly clear why it has reached this point of 12 weeks and no arrest.
Brooke Wilberger was abducted, raped and killed in 2004 by Joel Courtney. It wasn't until 2005, that the Detectives found a link between Brooke and Joel Courtney, and he was indicted with Brooke Wilberger's murder. They had eye witness accounts, webcam video and they found Brooke's Hair and DNA in the back of his van. Joel Courtney stayed in New Mexico awaiting his trial for rape of a New Mexico University student. In 2007, Joel Courtney was found guilty of beating and raping a University of New Mexico student and was sentenced to 18 years in a Plea Deal. In 2008, Benton County (Oregon) extradited Joel Courtney, and they had a court date set for 2010.
"Charges were filed despite the absence of the body of the alleged victim at the time; the prosecutor in the case announced that he would seek the death penalty"
Murder of Brooke Wilberger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
September 21, 2009, Joel Courtney reached a Plea Deal with the Benton County Prosecutors, in exchange for disclosing where Brooke's body was located. Joel Courtney received a sentence of Life in Prison with No Chance for Parole.
Lilibet is right about the Whitney Heichel case. Authorities announced at a 10pm News Conference on October 19th, 2012 that they had located Whitney's body and that they had made an arrest of Jonathan Daniel Holt. I don't know if it was ever made clear at what time Jonathan Holt was officially charged. He had 3 days of interviews, DNA samples and fingerprints taken. The search warrant, in the Holt1.pdf probable cause documents, mentions a search warrant time, during the morning of October 19th, 2012. Later, it mentions that Jonathan Holt was riding with Detectives at 9:45pm (Oct. 19th) out near Roslyn Lake, showing them the path that he had taken Whitney, out to where he had killed her. So his confession was earlier than 9:45 PM. The Medical Examiners Truck arrived at Larch Mountain just before 9PM. So in a sense, things did happen simultaneously. KATU-TV mentions that Jonathan Holt was arrested at 5PM on Friday, October 19th but booked at 12:20AM on Saturday. I don't think that they have ever released the exact time that the body was located.
http://www.katu.com/news/local/Police-evidence-telling-a-story-in-missing-woman-case-175019181.html
After October 19th, they still went out to Roslyn Lake and Larch Mountain to collect additional evidence. October 21st, 2012 Jonathan Holt had been transferred to Clackamas County, where he stayed until his Plea Sentencing on July 8th, 2013, which I had attended with the family.
Even after an arrest, there is still evidence being gathered toward a conviction. In Jonathan Holt's case, I was turning in evidence to the District Attorney up until June of 2013. Once they have enough evidence to make an arrest, and it is turned over to the District Attorney, it then becomes a legal ball game. Do they have enough evidence to go for the Death Penalty? What kind of Plea do they go for? I personally kept my blue latex gloves and evidence baggies with me, until I received a call from the District Attorney's Office to stop collecting evidence. Jonathan Holt was going for a Plea for Life plus Parole in 20, then 30 then by the time it came to his July hearing, it finally turned into Life with No Chance for Parole.
As Neptune is pointing out, that you can have all of the evidence in the world, but if the suspect is no where to be found, then stockpiling the evidence is useless without a suspect (in their custody) to prosecute. If they have enough evidence to convict the POI, then bring him in. If someone else knows what happened, and he has other charges, bring him in to get the info they need to convict. If I lived closer to Ruch, I would put back on my hiking boots, blue latex gloves and bring my evidence baggies and start collecting evidence. It does get frustrating living so far away, and not being able to physically help, while Stephanie has not been found yet and her killer(s) are still free!