I *think* I've read every thread on this case on WS from start to finish over the last year or two but I've never posted. I did have an idea that I don't *think* has been covered in much detail, although it seems it's been kind of touched on in the last few pages re the girl accused of setting fire to her family home.
My idea was to maybe search extreme juvenile crimes during the late 60's - mid 80's? There was a story relatively recently of a respected college professor who turned out to have killed his entire family as a teen in the 1960's (can link, just wasn't sure if it was ok). To make it brief, following the murders he was found to be suffering a drug-induced psychosis & was committed to an institution. Without access to the substance he'd been abusing, he recovered. He was then deemed well at some point, released & then he returned to college under a new name (legally changed - perhaps if he hadn't changed it legally, he may have escaped his recent return to infamy)
If some or all of LEK's immediate family died as a result of something she did/was party to as a juvenile, it could explain no-one looking for her & the lengths she went to to seperate her "before" & "after" lives. If she had been confined to a juvenile facility as a result of such an incident, it wouldn't be unheard of for surviving family & friends to cut contact immediately & completely wash their hands of the accused. Following her release/probation after age 18, even state depts/govt agencies wouldn't keep track of her.
So I guess I'm wondering if there's been any focus yet on searching these sorts of historical juvenile cases? (huge apologies if it's already been covered, I definitely could've missed a thread or 2 over the years)