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Hypothetical situation: WHAT IF: you, believing yourself to be innocent (because you are), you allow the police into your home, freely, to search (because you have nothing to hide), and they come upon a dead little girl in the cellar, or in a corner of the garage, or behind a tree in the yard? You, having no knowledge of this, have now become a prime suspect and will now be interrogated. They will now have access to everything in your house and, because you let them in freely earlier, when you weren't a suspect, anything you said to the police while not a suspect can be used as evidence against you. Only when you've become a suspect do they have to read you your rights.

Children are often climbing up things, under things, behind things; if a child did this while trying to escape from a bad person, the above scenario could happen and because you were so helpful with access to your home and statements, everything will be used against you.

If there was a dead person in my house or yard, I would call the police and my attorney not necessarily in that order.(note watch all the Rockford Files!) That is why I would probably let them check my house (as I said with my attorney present) with a dog, because if they or I found something, I would be unable to change that fact. If there was a body, I would not try to hide it but I would also not volunteer any information prior to obtaining legal counsel and having time to reflect on my thoughts so they could be presented as accurately and completely as possible. I would make mental notes of as much as possible at that time. Talking on the spur of the moment might cause misunderstandings, and I would not have the benefit of an impartial witness and tape recorder to accurately record my statements, not to mention the stress at that instant.

If the police had questioned me as to my whereabouts at a particular time and place I would decline to answer, as that would indicate suspicion of wrongdoing. If I suspected I was under suspicion, I would request an attorney and remain silent. Requesting an attorney cuts off their questioning right then and there, Mirandized or not. If one was married, it would be wise to immediately advise their spouse and children to remain silent, it is amazing how statements can be "misunderstood" at a later time. Who is a favorite target of Investigators, the young and nieve, and wording of questions can sometimes elicit the desired answers that are not exactly correct! I also would not worry about anything I told the police as I wouldn't give them the time of day unless I was the one reporting a crime. I think you should reread what I posted as my cooperation would be limited. I will give you another hint, when the police ask you to come out of your house and talk to them, it is probably to arrest you, in your house, with a few exceptions including hot pursuit, they will need an arrest warrant..if they don't come in to get you, why make it easy on them...they probably won't go to the trouble to get a warrant if its a shaky or minor charge being used just to drag you in and question you...in the meantime you can scrounge bail money if they come back LOL.....

Hypothetical situation: WHAT IF: you, believing yourself to be innocent (because you are), you allow the police into your home, freely, to search (because you have nothing to hide), and they come upon a dead little girl in the cellar, or in a corner of the garage, or behind a tree in the yard? You, having no knowledge of this, have now become a prime suspect and will now be interrogated. They will now have access to everything in your house and, because you let them in freely earlier, when you weren't a suspect, anything you said to the police while not a suspect can be used as evidence against you. Only when you've become a suspect do they have to read you your rights

You would definitely be a suspect. And you'd need a lawyer. I would talk with my lawyer present. I would want to prove my innocence. Talk till I'm blue in the face. Homicide investigators (I'm married to one) like people who talk. They size you up by what you say and how you say it. They look at your body language. They can usually tell, many times by gut feeling, when someone is innocent. When their gut and evidence tell them you're innocent, they move on.

Crime scenes tell stories. ME's can tell within a few hours when a person died. You could have been at work when the death occurred. You could have been out of town. You could have been at the local store. The evidence of the crime scene and your recollection of facts about your movements will likely be exculpatory.

I don't see how NOT letting the police into your home to search it would improve your situation if there was indeed a dead body in your home. What are you going to do, move it? Leave it there? Then what? The truth is your friend. At worst, they have to PROVE you did something you didn't. I know that innocent people are sometimes convicted. But it's rare.

The situation in San Diego is not hypothetical. The police questioned over 200 folks, took a police dog into 200 homes. The cooperation of the local neighbors allowed the police to eliminate them as suspects with the exception of one guy. A guy whose actions are bizarre at best, whose house was filled with kiddie porn, and to whose house the police dog followed the young girl's scent. But the police didn't know that when they got the call about the missing girl. They had to quickly go through a process of elimination in which the cooperation of the local citizens is essential. Is the suspect unlucky, or did the evidence point toward the likely perp?

YMMV. You're free to exercise your rights, although in the hypothetical situation you raise, I don't see how this would improve your situation. You'd still have a dead body in your house. Your home would become a crime scene. There would be a warrant to search your premises. And because you refused to talk, to explain where you where at the time of death, police would wonder why. Their experience would tell them that you are behaving just like the other guilty creeps they've put behind bars.