Love John walsh. I think VM was "kind of known" to him. And possibly vice-versa. But I believe she was caught right after she left the driveway, within minutes. To me that points toward someone with recent immediate knowledge of her plans that day.
I understand there are questions about the accuracy of the phone "ping", especially when shut off. I do know that typically the find my iPhone is very accurate, to within tens of feet. When off this may extend to a couple hundred feet or so. BUT
Just for the sake of examination, can we suppose the killer fled the scene with her phone in his vehicle, and realized he had it or had to address it when his racing mind was tying up loose ends, as he drove past the mountain barn. When he immediately shut the phone off. In this scenario- what does his direction of exit tell us?
Looking at the map, the perp would then have been traveling south on 31, toward Holden ( The most populous of the five towns surrounding the area and therefore statistically the most likely area where a "local "killer might live. It is away from the towns of Sterling, hubbardston, Princeton and Leominster. It is also in the direction of the much larger city of Worcester, but the main way to Worcester would have been to head east on route 62. In fact. IF WE ARE ASSUMING A LOCAL, FAMILIAR WITH THE ROADS AND ROUTES, an exit past the mountain barn is MOST DIRECTLY TO HOLDEN. Each of the other towns are more easily accessed via alternative routes which would have taken the killer in directions away from Mountain Barn. Also, the escape to Worcester would have been faster and more direct via rt 62/140/190. Something that a local would very likely know.
So, are we looking for someone in Holden? They could have been in the safety of their own home in 10-15 minutes.
