I agree; he knew the motel for a reason. I don't think they recognized him because the old recon didn't look like him. Had they had Carls or seen pics of his clothing they may have recognized him.
We never saw his clothes or boots till Eugene got the photos via FOIA. I wish Carl would have done a full body recon.
I don't consider his clothes grunge. Many people I know wear Tims, Tshirts with flannels and jeans.
I started looking in thread 4 but just don't have time. You also may want to go to his Reddit because they've looked at pretty much everything. I follow him here, the FB group and Reddit when I had time. I thought we discussed the boots here but maybe its one of the other places.
The boots he is wearing are unusual. And true "grunge" look was not dirty, or about being tatted up. In fact, if you look at Cobain, he's almost preppy at times. The true grunge look was low key--an everyman's look. The idea was that it was a look for everyone. It was a look of inclusivity, rather and exclusivity. And the movement itself, had an intellectual side to it. I beg to differ that the look Lyle has in his attire is not emulating, (or very close to emulating), the Seattle dress trends of that time.
The following is a documentary from 1984 on street-kids in Seattle. At the 15 minute mark you get a good overview of some of the kids who aren't as down on their luck. I few look like a young Lyle (the style of dress is '80s, pre-grunge, post-punk; but you can see that these kids were into the style of the time)--
http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsand...-five-cult-documentaries-that-you-need-to-see
I've known a lot of street-kids and they aren't all as bad off as the ones portrayed in this film. But you can see from this doc that these kids travel around a lot. Some look, and speak, as if they had a good home life early on, or at least one that would have provided basic medical and braces, at some point. They all have different stories as to why they left home. Some are very, very young.
Some of these kids do better than others, because they find an older person who lets them live with them for "companionship". Or they manage to work a little, flop a little, but don't really have to survive the meaner elements of the streets. But they are clean in appearance. Not all are on drugs. And they are very creative as to how they survive.
Spoiler Alert: Dwayne, in this film, who looks to still be a minor, does hang himself. Sadly, you can be a kid, one who never even made it through junior high, and know how to successfully hang yourself.
Just something to look at, as all the possibilities of who Lyle might have been are considered.
Sometimes we have to get our heads out of our bias, to see what is right in front of us.