SpongeBathHotPants, many paths lead to the same destination.. Geographical profiling or reverse geographical profiling are only two of the many tools that are used to narrow down areas of interest to search in missing/murdered persons investigations.
By combining timeline info/data received during the investigation; cyber forensics/cell phone pings, data from interviews, security cams, receipts, eyewitnesses, search areas eliminated from prior searches, etc.
LE can then focus on priority areas to search..
Imo, if a POI/Suspect has been identified by investigators. Areas frequented by the poi/suspect such as state & national parks/forests/preserves; safe havens, should be scrutinized.
Vanished: Using Reverse Geographical Profiling to location missing persons: By Dr. Maurice Godwin
http://www.drmauricegodwin.com/articles/default.html