1. I hope that LE have been able to trace, even if not completely, where Jeff's 'phone has been. I noticed that the reporter in this video said Jeff's mom and wife told her that LE had told them Jeff's phone wasn't connecting anymore because it was dead. Perhaps that is the case with the type of cell service that is available where Jeff lives, but with my phone, when it's dead (not just turned off, but out of battery) it goes straight to voicemail, as is the case with most of my friends' phones. The only phone I am personally aware of that does not do this is the one my mother-in-law has. Sometimes it rings a few times first, and other times without ringing at all, you get a generic, recorded message that says something to the effect of the phone being out of range, and then it hangs up (she lives in a somewhat rural part of Indiana). So one theory I have is that the 'phone had been left in an area where it was out of range but two nights ago, someone retrieved it (maybe someone who is aware of where the searches are taking place and was afraid that the searchers were about to find the phone ... perhaps because this individual knows that the phone holds some sort of information that could be used as evidence against him/her), and then inadvertently took it to a location where the 'phone was no longer out of range (even still out of battery).
2. I don't think it would have been out of line for the reporter to ask the nephew about the "Mary" at the bottom of the "cools off" text (e.g., she could have said something like, "Just making sure: Are you sure this is the right text? It says Mary at the bottom of it." Easy for me to say, of course, because I am just sitting here at home

. Plus, I am genuinely thankful that she has been covering this case). The way it is placed at the bottom of the text, with an extra line right above, just makes it look as though it's a sign-off.
3. I cannot provide a link because this is from a post on a family member's FB page, and this could be completely coincidental, but: The night before Jeff went missing, his mother apparently called him and told him that she was coming to see him over Thanksgiving, of which he had no knowledge up until then. I wonder who else knew. I am so terribly sorry, but I do not believe that Jeff walked away from his family or hurt himself; I think something happened to him, and wonder if someone felt that the deed had to be done before his mom arrived.
4. I do not believe that he is in the water. I do believe that the boots were placed where they were found between Sat. and Tues. Perhaps whoever that did this took the boots home with him/er at first but then realized: "Oops. If the police were to come out and find these here ...!" I think this individual is an amateur, and thus the thing with his cell phone, too.
5. Purely my personal opinion: It's always an ominous sign when a person appears to be crying, but there are no tears. I find this much more troublesome than someone who seems to show no emotion or may appear cold, even.
I get a feeling that the police know quite a bit more than they are letting on. It may still take them a while to gather evidence, but I think they will get this one right.