He did know. After he was visited by LE, the family was told they didn't find a "smoking gun" of any kind, but he was the #1 suspect because of how he answered questions and just the vibe they got from him.
I'm not sure what spooked him to finally do what he did, but on the one hand I am glad he did to give some closure, on the other hand the family is having a very hard time with a lot of this. Especially the details and specifics.
As others have mentioned, the family was told that since Laura hadn't been found yet, it was basically stalled as a missing person case. For a time leading up to the point when the missing person report was filed, there were times where no one would hear from Laura for a few days or possibly a week and then she would stop by her Mom's or contact her sister, etc. She would say she had been staying with a friend, phone got shut off, didn't have gas money to get there, etc. But eventually she would always turn up.
After they filed the report they had some leads. Eventually she was spotted in Rochester by someone after they saw the missing person notice. They eventually got his name and info. Eventually they had the video of him leaving the hotel. But since there was nothing concrete they really couldn't charge him with anything. I assume they didn't want to charge him with something that wouldn't stick and then have him walk away and make sure she wasn't found.
Also, as to the "mental illness" stuff, escort posts, etc that is out there about Laura, a lot of it is not accurate and way off the mark. The family that has spoken to the media has been misquoted several times and some of those have been corrected and others have not. Like all media their job is to get readers so they take what you tell them, find a different way of saying it that sounds more exciting and then go with it.
I would like to thank the people posting here as it's been a nice source of all the information that is out there in one location. I would also like to thank JSR for jumping in here to give some background into SZ. I can't imagine actually knowing this guy that intimately. AstroKitty has been an immense help and a great resource to Laura's sister.
A little background about me. I am Laura's ex-brother in law. I was married to Laura's sister for 20+ years and we still talk often. This was a long time coming, and there is a lot of background info leading up to this point that hopefully will eventually get out. I am not going to say anything that really hasn't been said in the MSM, but I will try to refute or clear up anything that has been said if I can.
I'm not aware of any actual mistakes made by LE up to this point, but the case didn't have any legs for a while. It took some prodding from "people who know people" to get the case some traction with different agencies once it stalled as a MP case. But once it did get traction it moved fairly quickly.
I am waiting to get the phone call to be set as a VI for this case, but so far I haven't gotten one. The only reason I am posting is to try and clear up the inaccuracies of what is out there, not to give my ideas of what happened or any other reason.
