This is why (aside from compassion for the Guthrie family) this case has fascinated me. Nothing makes sense, just as in the JonBenet scenario.
If she was kidnpapped for ransom, why are the ransom demands so disorganized and haphazard? Why TMZ? Why no proof of life? No money-motivated kidnapper wants to hold onto a hostage for 2.5 weeks. Or even 2.5 days.
If this was a burglary, bungled kidnapping or other crime, and NG died of fright, mistreatment or medical issues, why take her body? Yes, there might be clues on the body, but surely the perp would rather the POSSIBILITY of the body being incriminating than the CERTAINTY of being incriminated by being caught with a body, or caught hiding a body, or traced to an eventual burial site? Odds for the perpetrator are FAR better by leaving her behind rather than taking her along ill or deceased.
Even if she could "identify" a former tradesperson, delivery person, worker or other stranger who was in her home previously, again, that is a far lower risk than becoming a kidnapper/moving deceased remains. A good lawyer could make absolute mincemeat out of any "identification" made by a medicated person at 2am in the dark while startled/fearful/confused/injured.
So again, why risk taking a human being out of her home? There is zero to be gained and a lot to be risked.
It's the inverse of JonBenet, where we had a body AND a ransom note, makes no sense. Here we have NO body and NO (credible, I think the TMZ correspondence is BS) ransom demand. Makes no sense.