I'm not sure what the neighbors knew by the time the FBI came to see them. They claimed they didn't know anything happened until later in the morning when the FBI knocked on their door. It's possible that the officers who came to see the neighbors said "Your neighbors Jim and Denise have been found dead and their daughter is missing-- is it ok to search your property?" It's possible they asked the neighbors questions like "Do you own any firearms?" With those two questions alone it would not be hard to guess James and Denise had been shot and there must have been at least 2 gunshots fired.
It's possible that the neighbors honestly thought they heard something that night but were not as awake as they thought. Perhaps their clocks were off more than they thought. Or it's possible they completely fabricated the story for some bizarre reason (false memory, desire for media attention, wanting to be helpful, I don't know why). No matter why they were incorrect about everything the fact is they were incorrect. Unsubstantiated. There were many other inconsistencies in the neighbor's story. I posted a list of some of the inconsistencies here:
AMBER ALERT - WI - Jayme Closs, 13, Barron, missing after parents found shot, 15 Oct 2018 *endangered* #28
I doubt the neighbors will be testifying in court to what they heard. They are the last source we should rely on for correct info. MOO.
A couple of points.
1. They did not know there was a child . Jayme went to her aunt’s before for school. They figured out there was a child there because the school bus started stopping there after Jayme stopped going to daycare at her aunt’s.
2. The sheriff said all kinds of things that were not true such as there were no footprints. So who knows about the neighbors and the gunshots.
3. It makes sense that they were asked about weapons. But I doubt if they are liars.