Yeah, but... okay, I feel like we've been tiptoeing around something and I'm just gonna throw it out there.
Heather and SS went out on a date beginning at 7:00pm. They were not newly acquainted; they had gone to school together and had renewed communication via social media over the previous few weeks. So he picked her up around 7:00, they went to dinner, they went driving around looking at Christmas lights, they had the driving lesson at the Inlet Square Mall parking lot by 10:43, and then... what?
SS apparently dropped Heather off at her apartment shortly before 1:44am, according to LE, so what were they doing during those three hours after the driving lesson? Looking at more Christmas lights? Talking? What else is there for two healthy young 20ish-year-olds to do on a Tuesday night in December in Myrtle Beach?
One possibility is that they had sex. Maybe they went to Heather's apartment after the driving lesson and enjoyed some private time there. And, if Heather was indeed being stalked by TM and/or SM that night and they realized what Heather and SS were up to, the possibility of someone else's DNA being in/on Heather's body if it was found too quickly must have seemed like an incredible stroke of luck.
So that's what been rolling around in my head. If this was more or less what happened on the date, I could very well imagine that Heather
was tired. She apparently told her roommate over the phone that she'd had "
a great time" with SS, so it doesn't sound like he was someone she'd be eager to ditch.
But what could SM possibly say to lure Heather out if these were the circumstances? All I can think of is something along the lines of "I told Tammy I'm leaving and she hid my keys/slashed my tires/otherwise disabled my truck. I'm walking down to Peachtree Landing. Can you come and pick me up? I don't have anyone else to call."