I keep coming back to the same concept. We're making this too complicated. Sometimes things really are as they seem. It's been proven right here today.
BL goes missing, his car is abandoned, he leaves his new phone and wallet behind, and his parents are concerned he might harm himself.
And it looks like BL did just that.
Yeah, there are strange happenings surrounding it, but there is a bigger picture.
Same thing with LE searching at the reserve and park. LE said they were working off intel, and that the parents said they thought he was there, so they searched, for over a month, talking about fluctuating water levels the entire time.
And it looks like BL was there the whole time.
It really might be as simple as that.