Another random thought and speculation about a possible scenario.
Context: Eli’s May 17 Facebook post (shared by a friend, originally set to “friends only”) described an incident where he felt unsafe. In that post, he said he pulled out his phone and dog spray, making a show of it, and he caught part of a license plate: “–ern–” plus four digits.
My question is: Did this method of dealing with scary situations backfire on him? And if not in this particular May incident (a friend said it was investigated), could it have happened another time if this was his regular self‑protection habit?
IMO, yes — it could. If someone thought Eli was filming them, they might have feared exposure. Not because Eli did anything wrong, but because the other person may have misread his actions, believed he had filmed them, had something to hide, worried about being reported, or became paranoid, and then acted to erase what they believed was evidence.
This kind of scenario points to a brief interaction that the other person misinterpreted as threatening. And that means evidence could be very difficult to find because this type of situation doesn’t track as a known relationship, doesn’t involve a long‑term connection, isn’t someone in his circle, and may not leave a digital footprint.
It could be a stranger who misinterpreted a moment or a person with mental illness who read the situation wrongly.
In this scenario, someone believed Eli filmed them or knew something--even if he didn’t--and acted out of fear or paranoia. This fits the device destruction, the fire, and the disappearance. And it doesn’t require any academic, romantic or counselling connection.
