I have heard lots of excuses of why LE etc stopped their search that night and on the surface they appear reasonable. If you look at the whole picture though it it was an awful and ridiculous decision.
Initially it was thought the girls were lost or injured so people walked the trails calling their names with no response. This area is not gigantic. The trails are located in a fairly narrow wooded area that follows Deer Creek. The terrain is difficult in spots. After doing this for hours with no response how could LE continue to think that they were hurt or lost. But instead of saying something is very wrong here, they pack up and decide to come back tomorrow, leaving the search to amateurs and desperate family members. The thought that the girls may have gone somewhere else and not reported in is valid for awhile but not as 10pm approaches. Neither girl had a history of running away. By then they would have called to say “oh sorry I forgot to call but I’m at XYZ’s house” and i’m sure by then their families had called all their friends checking. LE basically abandoned these girls and their families. We know now that searching all night etc would not have saved the girls but it makes you wonder what other questionable decisions LE made early on that could have affected the investigation.
As far as Leazenby’s statement saying the community was in no danger it’s good to know he bases these things on his own gut feeling over reality. Sarcasm intended. The reality at the time was he had two brutally murdered young girls in a very small town. He had no idea who did it and why. How could he possibly make such a blanket statement. If something at the crime scene led to this statement he should say so, otherwise it was very irresponsible. Time, of course, has proven him right I concede, but at the time he said it he had no idea.
