The remains were found on land across the road from where the vehicle had been wrecked - located in a previously unsearched wooded area of Love County, specifically between Oswalt Road, Pike Road, and Long Hollow Road. For more context; it's 1,000 acres of property, and the remains were found about 1 mile NORTH of where the vehicle was wrecked, deep in the woods. If the two of them made it 1 mile north on foot and got lost, it's very likely that Conn Nipp wouldn't have found them himself to kill them, as suspected by locals for 13 years. It sounds more reasonable that they genuinely got lost and it just went downhill from there. A lot of speculation has occurred over the years, about their phones going off the grid within 30 minutes of each other. This doesn't seem suspicious to me. Phones eventually die if they aren't being charged, and in their case, they were using them to call people for help, all through the morning.
The land was recently sold and the new owners were approached by law enforcement, and they allowed the search and recovery. Even though they are waiting on DNA confirmation, the families were able to confirm to local friends and relatives, that they belong to the missing young people - I think it's possible they identified remaining clothing and the fact that Colton had told friends over the phone that he had broken his leg probably helped.
Whether or not Conn Nipp went back, found them and killed them remains to be seen. (what is the motive her, for one? Other than he's an evil person) He's been in and out of jail since 2013. He should at the VERY least, be charged with leaving them there to die. He knew day after day after day, that they were missing and did his absolute least to aid in finding them. He was the only one who knew where their starting point was. He could have encouraged his family members to allow access on properties for the search. So many things that could have been done to save these kids. :-(
Colby Barrick, an associate of Nipp's, later claimed in jail that they were shot and dumped in a pond called "Moxley Lake." That was disproven. Colby is also the "butt dialer" who dialed 911 and continued some kind of conversation about the alleged murder and Moxley Lake. It's possible that he was lying to someone for clout, or spinning his own hypotheses to someone and it was unfortunately overheard by the 911 operator.
I worked at Winstar World Casino in Love county for 10 yrs and the picture some people paint of that area being riddled with meth addiction is SPOT ON. You have your good and bad in every town, but that area is known for it's meth crisis. Sadly, Nipp dealt drugs, Haynes imbibed and Molly was also starting to party with them at 17. They were all together that night for the purpose of "partying" with drugs. Nipp enjoyed leading deputies on high speed chases, which is what happened and how the vehicle was wrecked. Had the two not been with such a low life that night, they'd more than likely still be alive today. Had they not gone out for the purpose of getting high...they would have been somewhere completely different and not with Nipp, who ultimately drove them to their deaths. It's very sad that a couple of small choices resulted in such young deaths.