I don't see how we can rule out the brother here. I haven't been able to yet. And yes...he could keep it from LE and his mother. We don't know his personality and his mental make-up at this point except that he has some behavioral issues.
Sociopaths were children once, too. Psychopaths didn't just wake up one day and become crazy either. Not saying JB is either one of these things, but the truth is...we don't know.
IF those rumors are true about knives, shovels, choking etc., then we have to look at how far out of hand things could have gotten with Lindsey. Her mother obviously wasn't doing much to combat the problem between them since she herself brought up that Lindsey grew her fingernails long to defend herself against her brother. She also said there were physical altercations. They must have been pretty bad for Lindsey to purposefully need those nails to gouge him. The mother was promoting Lindsey to physically harm her brother during fights, imo. What does this say about her ability to control him?
You summarize the JB concept really well here, SS, and I am definitely not waving goodbye to that possibility completely. Either MB and JB are
responsible, in some way, or they are
amazing actors playing all of us in a very astute way, or both of them are
completely innocent.
Possibilities that I am remaining with in order of what I believe to be credible:
1. LB was abducted by convenience by an out-of-towner and taken away to another county, state, etc. (someone who is either a registered SO or a first time creep who ended up on Maple for one reason or another)
2. LB was abducted by a local who knew her habits such as walking down Maple and may have seen her in her bathing suit after doing the Friday swim, the motive being that the SOB (I add the "B") saw her in her bathing suit at the video store and took it upon himself to do what he wished with her. This includes the "dog" guy, a drunk who may have known Lindsey, been near or on Maple on the way home from a binge, etc etc
3. Josh killed LB, accidentally or in a state of frustration, and mom is protecting the remaining home, in a daumerian way...to me, a remote possibility.
4. Mom killed LB and JB has no problem protecting mom because he is now "first" in her life, and LB remains close to home in some daumerian way...another scenario that may be possible from past history of crime, but highly unlikely according to a huge number of factors.
5. Some officer, fireman, or other respectable citizen who was familiar with LB offered to take her home. To me, that is really stretching it. The above options are more credible, imo, at this time.
6. There are 3 registered sex offenders within a few miles of McCleary, and all of them live in a wooded area. I leave this as the last scenario because I am sure that LE has investigated them over and over and over again, and their land, and their wells and septic tanks, over and over again. I am assuming this because that, to me, would be one of the "first" things to do. If they have not done that, then they should take those dogs out there for a huge sniff, imo.
This post is now getting too long, but my patience is getting short, so long is good, it balances things out. This silence, as another poster has claimed, is breaking my ear drums into tiny pieces.
One more point, relative to some of the above posts about "new names" and "new ideas" that seem to be coming from ONE specific location. If credible, then fantastic, but if they are always coming from ONE specific location, and cannot be verified by more than one source, then they remain suspect, imo. And if they cannot be verified by more than one source then they should be investigated further in order to assure that ONE voice and
one source is valid and worth it, to other sources. Otherwise, what good is it?
Cookies all come from Utah, honest, and all of them look like mountains Either accept this or verify it...case in point
Thank you Jen, for bringing attention to this ONE source, much appreciated! And enjoy your son's return, and thank him for his contribution to the safety of all of us here in America
I took a trip to Seattle this weekend for a friend's wedding. We went to Bremerton (about 60 miles northeast of McCleary), and I saw some fliers there. We also stopped in Ellensburg (almost 200 miles east of McCleary) for gas, and I saw some there as well. I was actually pretty surprised, but glad, to see some in Ellensburg. So I thanked the gas station attendant for having them up. Unfortunately I couldn't convince my dad that a 2 hour side trip to McCleary was necessary. But I was still glad to see some fliers around. 
Many perps, especially sexual offenders who kill, can be people who no one would ever suspect because of those very things you mentioned...they help out families, they are kind beyond words, they do good works in the community, they are avid Christians, etc.
