Interesting if LE checked all credit card receipts for February 2017. He most likely paid with a credit card for both the train ticket and hotel room. If we had a time line
to place TB at Monon High Bridge
gives the connection we need.
Great sleuthing inmyhumbleopinuon
Thank you for your kind words, book-thinker. And thank you,
@heartgoesout, for reminding us of the crime location’s (the bridge in particular) possible connection to things train-related given its history.
Due to its timing, this event and people involved may be something LE would want to look into, if they haven’t already, perhaps starting with males who stayed in hotels within walking distance of the Amtrak station in Lafayette (“Station parking is not available”; I’m not sure if that was the case in Feb., 2017). The Rail Rangers program ran for three months on multiple dates. It would be an arduous task, but perhaps they can identify someone who stayed in the area only on the dates associated with it.
They may want to interview the Rail Rangers also, showing them the photo of BG to see if any of them recognizes him.
I keep thinking that BG is at least somewhat familiar with the Monon High Bridge Trail. If a person participated in the program more than once, he might have visited the trail more than once also. The Rangers may also remember someone who kept coming back.
[Start: Possible Scenario]
As to TB, say, he was on the train that ran on Sunday, February 5.
He takes a train back to Lafayette that night and stays at a hotel near the station. The following morning, he leaves for Flint to visit relatives. On his way there, he decides to take a hike along the High Bridge Trail since it’s on the route anyway. He stays with family for the next week.
He planned to be home back in MO the following Monday (February 13, 2017) evening. He starts out, then decides to go back to the Trail; it only adds an hour to the trip anyway. It’s also almost exactly halfway between Flint and Overland (I believe that’s where he lived between 2008 and this past summer, when his home was foreclosed on), so it would be a nice rest stop.
Later, he goes home, acting as though nothing happened.
[End: Possible Scenario]