What would explain LE calling off local searches? What would explain the silence?
One big thing would be if they knew that Holly was alive somewhere. How would they know that?
What if the perp is contacting the family....or LE? Perhaps taunting them. Maybe allowing the family to speak to Holly.
I don't know why a perp would do this....maybe some type of vendetta against the family?
LE would be under no obligation to release this type of information to the public....
OK....I might be losing it. This case is driving me nuts.
If you look across a number of missing person cases, you'll see that in most cases, LE does large searches for a period of approx 10 days to 2 weeks, and then those stop. After that, it's just occasional searches, and only by LE or SAR teams that LE brings in.
The large searches in the beginning are primarily for the period of time during which the person, based on characteristics specific to them (e.g. age) and the circumstances of their disappearance, would mean they are most likely alive. The attempt during this time is to rescue them while they are still likely alive.
After that, they are considered likely deceased, and the occasional searches are for a body, based on specific evidence/info that points LE to a specific area where there is a higher likelihood of the person's body being found. This comes down to cost of searches, which are phenomenally expensive.
So far as silence, it appears to me that it is becoming more and more common for LE (and families) to be quiet in missing person cases.
For LE, they not only need to protect the case for when/if it goes to prosecution, but I've seen an increase in complaints from LE across multiple cases about getting many calls that are rumor based. It's a waste of time and money for them, because every tip has to be accounted for.
For families, all they need is to get wind of what goes on on Facebook and across the net in these cases, and if they're smart, silence is their best bet. The mad frenzies that take place do nothing to help find the person, and in fact, interfere with it and delay it. Not to mention add to the suffering of the family who's already suffering.
MOO