Again I want to point out that there seems to be some speculation that has turned into 'fact' over time.
The idea that JR said LS turned the corner and there's no way he could've seen that so he must be guilty or somehow being disingenuous assumes more than he couldn't have seen her turn the corner somehow. It assumes that is what he actually said. Isn't this just what it's been reported that he said by others? IOW- classic hearsay. And how possible is it that what he said and what that person repeated/reported is slightly different?
And further, unless he's just blatantly adamant that he saw her walk to the corner and turn, then how much of a stretch would it be to say he just misremembered exactly when she left his view leaving the apartment?
Of course I might've lost track myself of who said what... But based on what we've heard this isn't exactly smoking gun territory even if he did say it exactly as been said here.... let alone going by what other people have said he said...
http://www.lohud.com/article/20110903/NEWS02/109030332
Approached by the same reporter again late Friday night, Rosenbaum stepped from his door.
He was asked again to discuss what happened. Rosenbaum, who was the last person to report seeing her, was asked about prior reporting by The Journal News regarding his final interactions with Spierer. The paper, quoting friends of Rosenbaum, reported previously that Spierer visited him that morning, that he tried to get her to sleep over, but let her leave after she showed she could walk without stumbling. He said he then saw her rounding a corner on her way back to her apartment, the paper reported.
Asked about this account, he replied, I confirm it.
However, we don't know if JR had such great eyesight, and it was still dark. Could he possibly be mistaken that LS turned at the corner of 11th & College, and he "saw" her turn, because he expected to see her turning? Maybe someone else turned the corner. And, you are right that the timing could have been confused.
We can be sure that he confirmed that (1) he spoke to LS that morning at his place, and that (2) she left his place later that morning.
College Avenue has a Waffle House, which is open 24/7. WH are usually located in areas convenient to truckers, on the exits off interstates. This WH is not near an interstate, but may be convenient enough for truckers and other people who are just passing through the area. Unfortunately, for the same reason, the WH parking lots sometimes have a bad reputation as presenting the opportunity for crime.
On College Avenue, lots of trees obscure the sidewalk view, and people can park on both sides of the street. Therefore, students and other people driving by were less likely to have noticed LS if she walked along College towards 10th, and less likely to have noticed if she were in some type of trouble.
If LS walked by such a large student residence as College & tenth, we would expect that at least one person would have noticed her. JMO: if she was walking along College Avenue, she did not make it past the tenth street student residences.
OTOH: Afraid after the altercation at Smallwood, maybe LS had it in mind to go to the residence of some outside friend.
Bo Dietl described the IU student community as severely abusing drugs, and suffering from frequent ODs. How did LS feel about that aspect of college life? Did she confide in a friend that she was actually not in agreement with that lifestyle? Or afraid of that kind of behavior?
One recommendation sometimes made to people who want to quit drugs is to throw away all the "friendships." The literature on recovery tends to blame the friends for encouraging drug involvement and sabotaging efforts at quitting drugs.
If IU is as bad as Bo Dietl says, not impossible that LS at least contemplated "running away."
We can't really conclude anything from the scarce info we have been given, but perhaps abduction and adult run-away need to be more carefully explored.