No disrespect but you contest and dismiss all the evidence in the case in being determined to have her walk away in the woods blindly. I have been told that making the kind of adjustment that was made to this car is actually a specific procedure that doesn't occur by 'accident'. I know little about cars but a very experienced mechanic told me this. How does one explain the unidentified prints under the hood as well? You ignore the fact that this car flipped over multiple times and yet not a drop of blood is found. But even if we do assume that she managed to fling herself out of the car safely (this is highly unlikely) then why does she not take her most prized possession that she was never seen without (her mothers ring)? Furthermore why does she not take any cash at all? Its not like cash is going to weigh her down (nor would slipping the ring in her pocket). The only way I can see her wondering off without any of her possessions is if she is suicidal and by all accounts she was far from that during the day. I don't know where you get the idea that the potential Perp was driving around in her car? The evidence seems to suggest that Leah was sleeping in her car and that nobody was driving it, consequently Leah was already up in the mountains when the Perp either snuck up on foot or in a car. She either told people she would be up there that night or someone has stalked her. And the person who rigged the car would not want to go through it for any reason if the motive was sexual assault of some sort, his only concern would be in staging an accident. I don't mean to be sharp, its just that you seem to willfully ignore all and any suspicious clues. If we take you at your word then are we really to think that Leah crashed and then just wondered away to die ostensibly in a kind of amnesia? This just seems absurd to me, more so when you see evidence of tampering and consider the suspiciously detailed composite that the guy in the bar provided.
And just a note on that composite of (iirc) 'Barry'. This composite and story version was told by only ONE of the men who were flanking Leah. The two men did not know each other. One man recalled Leah, her talking about her trip, Kerouac, etc
then Leah finished eating and LEFT. Alone. End of recollection, as far as Dude 1 is concerned. So far, so good.
But then we have Dude 2's story; Dude 2's story has 'Barry', some Mysterious Stranger, come and get Leah. Dude 2 provides a description of this 'Barry' enough to be able to generate a composite sketch.
Here's where my eye starts twitching with regard to the first detective working Leah's case; who does this based on one chance, unimportant encounter? FFS, I couldn't describe everyone at the table at which I ate lunch TODAY, much less any random stranger who they left with. Add a few weeks or months to that? Forget it; I couldn't even tell you what I had for lunch *myself* with a high degree of certainty. If I had been that DT, fricking alarms would have been going off so loudly at that point that I'd still be deaf.
But I digress.
Dude 2's 'Barry' gets ZERO credible hits, or even nibbles. No-one in Bellingham has ever seen 'Barry' before. Hmm.
In the meantime, Dude 2 has sneaked off to live in Canada (a country which, might I add, is similar enough to the US to be comfortable culturally, but which, notably enough, does not extradite if the death penalty is on the table). Dude 2 has now ensured that, even if a body turns up, he won't hang for it. Smart move, Dude 2.
But wait! There's more! A brief investigation into Dude 2's history uncovers the fact that shocker Dude 2 has experience as a car mechanic! How coincidental! And the level of experience he has largely guarantees that, unless he has the IQ of a turnip, he possesses the knowledge of how to tamper with a car to get it to accelerate unmanned
not that Leah's car was tampered with, though.
OMGWTFBBQ! WAIT A MINNIT! The original DT didn't even *look* to see if Leah's car had been tampered with. So, now that DT had retired, or donated his brain to Science, whatever, and Leah's disappearance is a 'cold case', the new detective does something unheard of in the annals of investigative work, at least up around Bellingham: he gets off his butt and opens the hood of Leah's car. Umm
spoiler alert: the car has been tampered with. There are unidentified fingerprints on the engine where someone had rigged the car.
What I think happened: Dude 2 (and Dude 1) were told by Leah that she was sleeping in her car mostly. Possibly Dude 2 even recommended a scenic spot. 'Barry' does not exist. Leah left alone, and Dude 2 decided that this was his Big Chance.
I think Leah hung the makeshift curtains so she could sleep. Maybe she left the door unlocked, maybe Dude 2 used a slim jim thingy to open it. Maybe Dude 2 lucked out and caught Leah outside the car, having a cigarette before bed (so as not to gas Bea, her cat). Dude 2 subdues Leah somehow, and crashes her car. Leah is dead (I h8 u, Dude 2), and when the police come around, 'Barry' is invented, LE says 'oh, ok', and Dude 2 moves to Canadialand.
Getting fingerprint/DNA from Canada apparently takes OVER 9000 years without actual charges or a body, so Dude 2 thinks he has gotten away with it, 'cos at the rate this is going, he will die of old age before WA gets their info.
Bear in mind, this is only my opinion for the points that are not established facts. But IMO, our killer is Dude 2, and maybe (probably not, I think he did this alone) a friend of Dude 2, but not Dude 1.
Tcat.
Sent from Telezonia