"If a bird looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck."
Well, thats the duck test. And this case is quacking from the very beginning.
Yet, having never accepted the existence of a bird, we just couldnt hear the quacks.
And there sure are lots of quacks (brown bag, call to Dad on 20th, wandering into most unsafe areas, missing shoes, unobstructed view of the face without the hat, etc). But Ill concentrate on the crime scene. I believe thats where we need to alter our assumptions.
The face was unrecognizable. Hit repeatedly with a rock. Of course, itd be a rock. Thats one of the few weapons that would even unintentionally make a face unrecognizable in the act of killing. Unrecognizable face on a gunshot victim would be a more deliberate attempt.
And her drivers license and jewelry were there. Anything to suggest that the unrecognizable face belonged to SS was there. Yet anything that may provide more leads to the LE was missing: the iPad and the cell phone. Doesnt identification of a murder victim allow LE to solve the case faster, find suspects with a motive? Or was that the real aim?
It was also interesting how the jewelry was found. The ring and the bracelet were on the body. But earrings were next to her with her earphones, kinda buried in the dirt. So the perp was thoughtful enough to place the earrings and mark them with the earphone cable? How did both earrings come off in the struggle? How did the perp find them? Is it possible that the earrings found next to the body are pierced but the ears on the body werent?
Pants dropped down to knees but no rape attempt. No sign of rape? Why drop pants? Attempted undressing? Or a very smart, impromptu solution to put on a pair of undersized jeans on a dead body?
Her bag and her jacket are also missing. Who took them? Perhaps somebody who needs the jacket, the bag and the contents of the bag as much as the victim.
Husband identifies her. Is that really what happened? He identified or confirmed? Because forensic experts/medical examiner should be the ones to identify and ask a relative only to confirm. A grieving husband may easily misidentify a dead wife.
Doubts are more cruel than the worst of truths. - Moliere