Hopefully , JM's friends and family have him in touch with an attorney, and that arrangement for him to go into custody are worked out and it goes, safely and smoothly. He is not with immediate family, and they may not know exactly where he is, and may want a lawyer or other advocate to facilitate this.
JM apparently was a fixture at the mall and people at Tempo knew him. He had been there earlier in the evening, and returned with Hannah after he left the first time. He hung out there.
Hannah left the party to meet up with some others. LE has not given details, but I am sure they have spoken to her friends, and they know who she was supposed to meet wheree. It was a sad mistake that she left on her own, and it seems to be the consensus that she had had too much to drink or had taken recreational drugs, The reports seem to be pretty sure that she got turned around in terms of direction and was on the opposite side of where she wanted to be. Her movements fit that of someone confused and lost, and also she moved like someone who was intoxicated.
She is a sophomore (second year) at the school, and usually freshmen live on campus and stay pretty much there, so it makes sense that she was not that familiar with the area outside of the campus, especially at night, especially drunk. In all fairness, I did the same thing last week in turning my self around and finding myself confused and not where I planned to be. I was distacted and on auto pilot and it took me a while before I realized I was going the wrong way. So one doesn't have to be "under the influence" or completely unfamiliar with an area to do as she did. Also Hannah lived most of her life in the state of VA, but not in the Charlotteville area. She simply headed the wrong way, wasn't paying attention as she rushed along and then when she did look around, she wasn't where she thought she was headed at all.
Sadly, what happened next is not uncommon. Attractive, vulnerable young woman looking lost, confused, and yes, intoxicated. She was approached by JM, and though the consensu seems to be that they did not know each other, he was able to make her comfortable with him, probably a smilie, and a "lost, honey? let me help you". To Tempo, the went, and it seems JM was known there and he probably offered her a ride to where she wanted to go. Confused, tired and someone who seemed to be friendly and known to others there, I can see where she would feel comfortable accepting the offer. What I find hard to believe is that JM was foolish enough to do as he likely did when he had to know that those who knew him saw him with her at Tempo. It's not like he ran into her somewhere that there was a chance no one saw them together. It was not video footage but eye witnesses that placed JM as the last person to be with Hannah when her trail ended at that mall from Tempo. He and Hannah were seen leaving there together.
What happened next? Don't know, But Hannah has disappeared, and enough evidence has been found to accuse JM of wrong doing, something LE could not do at first even whent they had him has the last person traceable to Hannah, and wanted to question him--he refused to let them. Whatever was found in JM's car, clothing, phone, apt or maybe some other evidence altogether make it a go to accuse him of ill doing.
I don't think there is an attempt to hide where Hannah was going that night or who she was meeting. It just isn't important. The focus has been on where did she go? How did she disappear? Through surveillance, LE knew where she was right up to when she went off camera. I'm sure they spoke to whoever she was texting--they were on the other side of where she started, which is why it is thought she got her direction backward. They were not at the mall or within a couple of miles of where Hannah ended up. So those friends are just not in the picture as they were not there, not really near where Hannah was.
Why do you think it's important to id those she was going to meet? She was at the mall because she went the wrong direction, was confused.
