VSP's tactics aren't working. They are not getting the tips they need or are looking for.
How would we know? Maybe some good tips came in, but they need confirming evidence.
I hate that this investigation is so hush-hush.
Maybe there are aspects that require confidentiality. Being on the TV news might be intimidating to the average citizen. In analyzing tips & evidence, correctness is much more important than quickness.
I don't understand why the people of Cville aren't crying out! You have a murderer on the loose!
Apparently VA has lots of murderers on the loose.
The reward money hasn't tempted anyone yet...and I doubt it will now.
How would we know? Maybe LE has hundreds of tips.
Again, we don't know because of the lack of information being put forth by VSP. I truly find it so heartbreaking!
Other agencies like the FBI were also involved in this case. Plus, private investigators may also be involved.
To answer your question nostoneunturned, I actually do believe that this was a random killing.
But if you look at photo #14 there is a striking likeness to MH. Clearly she had been to AF at some point, or else some guy who knew her well had spent some time there. She might have actually sat and posed for that depiction.
That he included the "Goth" bracelet would make it seem that she was there around the time of her disappearance; (that is, since we were
not told that she habitually wore that bracelet, but only that she wore it that night).
Observe in the image that the outer "halo" pierces her abdomen, similarly to a hoop earing piercing an ear. (BTW: Images of Buddha or Buddhist deities never suggest injury or harm to the subject.) We can imagine that such a position would cause agonizing pain, and the piercing of the skin itself suggests violence, as does the large gash in her left leg; although her face seems firmly expressionless. The inner halo almost suggests a noose. The way her hand is implied to be underneath her garment over her crotch is lewd in its insinuation; certainly, we can say that the "artist" felt a certain contempt for his subject, and sadistic impulses towards her.
We already discussed the Tew flag, but why is MH holding the sword? Perhaps she was a threat to his sense of masculinity? Also, the arm with sword seems imposed as an afterthought (possibly even by another person), rather than being an integral part of the composition. Almost seems like he is tacking on an excuse to assuage his regrets (guilt?) over her fate or perhaps just over the meanness in the earlier part of the drawing.
Also, the muscular arm is clearly a man's arm. Is MH "armed" against him or his group?
Notice MH is not focussed on the sword. She does not wield the sword, but rather she seems hardly aware of the heavy sword in "her" arm. Is she "unaware" of the threat she (or some group to which she belongs) poses to someone?
Or possibly the sword suggests that she has the power to free herself from the vine-halos (= trap, or restriction), but she has chosen not to? Psychologically, perhaps the picture represents denial of rape.