I, too, am wondering about the suggestibility of ggp...could he have been truthful about seeing what he saw, but perhaps confused about exactly when he saw it? What if, earlier that morning, before the trip to the store, ggp saw exactly what he said he saw, but then was somehow manipulated into believing or convinced he saw it later?
His friend could be having a hard time backing up the story if he realizes it isn't what actually happened but may have been asked by LE not to contradict what is being said, or more nefariously, by someone involved in what happened.
Two other interesting things...
Sheriff said the parents "SUPPOSEDLY thought they were turning the child over" to the ggp. That's what I say when I don't really believe the story one of my kids is trying to convince me of.
Sheriff did not mention (as we've seen many other times) the emotional toll the search is taking on LE. He emphasizes that there's a lot of stress, they've scaled peaks, searched dens, there's no one on patrol with him because all his personnel are working at the scene; nothing about how they have kids/grandkids DeOrr's age, no choking back tears, nothing about the horror of a child lost in the woods, no indignation..."how DARE someone take a sweet little boy from his family on my watch...someone will PAY for this!" This case doesn't seem 'personal' somehow.
