I do think he’s tucked away someplace but it is hard to imagine that a friend, even a close friend, would risk being involved. A relative seems more likely but I’m sure they’re all being looked at.
I suppose someone he met online might be helping him, either a male or a female, someone who shares his (supposed) ideology or a woman who thinks he was just misunderstood by Gabby — look at all the women who write to Chris Watts and others. He seems so temperamental that I doubt an online friend would put up with him very long.
I keep going back to the parents. We don’t know what kind of cash they kept at home and they had a good leadtime to acquire more cash (in smallish withdrawals) and buy prepaid cards before anyone knew Gabby was missing. They would have to find a place for him to stay under a different name, but if you aren’t super picky about a rental it wouldn’t be terribly hard to bypass credit checks, especially if paying several months in advance for a less-than-stellar place. It would need to be a location that could accept deliveries (so not way off-grid).
How difficult is it to get a fraudulent driver’s license these days? Probably not nearly as hard as an entirely new identity but I’m not up on what is involved. That would definitely simplify moving about more easily.
Pure speculation, just like everything else here. We won’t know until we know.
No matter whether BL is dead or alive, I hope they find him and that Gabby’s family doesn’t have to wonder where he is.
MOO