I don't know any more about the searches, than anyone else.
Fairy1 had a chance, when she was at the press conference, to talk privately with someone "in the know" (not LE, not family). ATVs were used to search gullies, the foothills were searched by air, and many many people (locals/church members) walked the area. The family walked the golf course. The family started knocking on neighborhood doors even before LE and the missing persons people got involved.
We also have learned that after the area's heavy rains, drainage outlets and flood channels were checked.
I think the chance is very good that he's out there, somewhere. Did he walk and walk and walk, further than searchers have safely gone? Since the phone messages were checked early on Dec 14th, was he outside in that freezing night, huddled up in a small crevice or wind shelter? (In many cases of hypothermia, remains are in hidden places and only discovered when animals scatter bones and personal items.) Sad.
Yes, we'd all rather believe he's somewhere else, living another life (the only happy alternative). But I believe someone crafty enough to do that, who is also trying to prove something, would send some signal to his family. That hasn't happened.
