My sincerest sympathies, mocity, on the loss of your sister--I truly hope LE can solve it!!
After reading through the thread and the links, a couple of questions popped into my head (all below are BBM):
The killer tied Andy and Cheryls hands together in the same intricate knot with a rare kind of hemp rope
http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=71049
Did LE follow up on (a) the hemp rope, since it was "a rare kind"? and/or (b) the intricate knot? Considering, that the rapist with the same DNA mentioned something about being military, I wondered if the knot was a naval or army type knot? Maybe he was not misleading the victim, maybe he was just that arrogant.
but blood in the car appeared fresh
Whose blood? The newspaper accounts seem to indicate the prevailing theory was they were cut in the woods?
Still clothed, a similar rope had been used to bind his hands behind him, although not as securely as Henry's
If not as securely, could that be from Andy struggling to get free? The LE description thru newspaper accounts have Andy being killed first? It seems more likely to me that this attacker, who was clearly sadistic and cruel, tied him to the tree like he did (sitting with back to tree) to make Andy watch him rape and kill Cheryl? Every aspect of this crime is so horrific, wouldn't that seem in line with the entire episode? And he was found a little ways away, but she could have tried to run or there could have been a line of sight, who knows? It seems counter-intuitive that Andy (male) was not the more securely bound of the two, especially if the assailant had a gun or knife that he would have had on Cheryl, thus couldn't have on Andy as well? (Unless more than one person but that doesn't seem like the case?) And it seems like LE needs a good timeline of events, in the right order, to make sense and solve?
A bunch of deflated balloons hung Dali-like over a tree limb near Henry's body, having no apparent connection with her death but adding to the surreal quality of the grim scene.
That is ultra-creepy--does LE think it was related? Like part of a ploy to get quick control of the two? If this was a secluded part of the area, why on earth would the balloons otherwise be there, if not brought by the victims or the perpetrators? Were they taken in as evidence and processed for prints or to trace them back to a store?
...approved the independent retesting of all the DNA samples taken from possible suspects and eliminated through tests done at HPD's lab
Was this ever completed? Any help at all??? And I'm hesitant to bring this up, and I am sure this is ridiculously obvious, but is LE sure Andy and Cheryl didn't have sex prior and it's not his DNA? I imagine that was the first thing crossed off the list, but the suspect sketch looks somewhat like Andy to me (with his hair pressed down from a stocking mask?) I don't want to imply anything at all about his background or character-----only want to make sure consensual sex was crossed off the list so the DNA isn't a wild goose chase. Even the timing is weird---no hits on that DNA since those two times, very close together? Again, I apologize if that line of thinking offends. Most definitely, MOO.
All quotes, other than the AMW one, are from the Houston Chronicle articles at
http://www.helpcherylandandy.com
I really hope you find resolution, mocity, and my prayers are with you and your family.