investigation of a hard drive is very time consuming, in particular if they are trying to retrieve deleted information
^ This.
Out of all the evidence that will evolve, this interests me the most in this particular case.
Gathering evidence from a PC requires expertise. IP addresses will be tracked/confirmed, cached information, deleted browsing history, cookies (the good ones) and of course, any information that has been hastily deleted CAN be retrieved ... that's a given. You can receive an email, press delete, delete your deleted items but there will be a copy that is able to be retrieved by an IT Forensic expert. It's almost like leaving your fingerprints everywhere! He was a Mac user, that requires a whole other level of expertise also.
This case is
unfortunately intriguing ... maybe it's the hyphenated surname, the seemingly 'perfect' family unit or simply the haste at which Police rallied search parties (people go missing everyday, they don't often warrant search efforts like this one).
Of course he's guilty (IMO), it's just a matter of gathering the information that will result in a guilty verdict.
I've been lurking (while waiting for my account to be approved) and to be honest, the local 'inside information/gossip' is intriguing, but in an area such as this one, the bush telegraph is definitely at play!
There aren't many
confirmed facts from Police, they can't give too much away when it's an inside job! I'm sure they can't give the offender a head start.
Great discussion going on!