I've felt for sometime that this was a kidnapping for ransom that just didn't work out for the perp. My very first thoughts on the case were that Ed owed money to some nasty characters and that they were holding Elizabeth until he made good on his loans. I gave up on that idea after the FBI found no evidence supporting it. If Ed had an influx of money into his business that could not be explained then that would have raised all kinds of red flags. I'm sure that this was one of the first areas that the FBI looked into. The Feds are very good at checking on people’s money. Once again, no smoke, no fire.