We had this conversation about "O" and the possibility about him leaving due to "black man in black" story hitting the media in the theories thread.
That said, Junior spoke to LE first thing in the morning on the 10th. He was interviewed by 2-3 child specialists (I'm unsure of their qualifications - psychologists, therapists - I'm not sure what to call them) right away, therefore, if Junior really saw a "black man in black", I'm sure LE was aware of what Junior saw right away. The media didn't become aware of it until Crystal shared the story, and then put Junior on national tv. That doesn't mean there weren't whispers starting around town if the story was starting to spread - it is a small town, afterall. If I were "O", I'd get the heck out of there! If you look at the pictures of Tent City - there sure weren't a lot of "black" men. That is one bus I would NOT want to get tossed under!
I just hit google to see when I could find the first stories of this hitting the media.
February 24th
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,499505,00.html
(This story appears to be before it morphed into a "black man in black")
All the articles seem to be on February 24th and 25th.
Ron and Misty were married on March 12th, IIRC.
Just because "O" wasn't around Tent City doesn't mean he and Ron weren't friends and he wasn't still in contact with him. We really don't know - we've just heard rumors. I try to remind myself with all rumors in this case, a majority of them have proven to be untrue.