[Yeti]

the guy lurking behind the milkman on Elizabeth's road that morning...mere hours after he would have nabbed her.

Why would he still be lurking after she was already taken? I think that little tidbit might just be a red herring.

[terilyn]

Maybe, though it's possible that the guy the milkman saw is the real perp, the hat, size, etc. more closely matched what Mary Katherine saw than Edmunds description did. Maybe the sicko got some perverse pleasure out of watching the reaction by the police, family, neighbors, etc. of the havoc he had created.

[stand 4 something]

The milkman noticed the car on Monday morning, Elizabeth was taken on Wednesday morning.

[Iwo Jima]

If your theory is correct, then I think that it is more likely that the perp is an "extended family" member than I would have otherwise thought. That would explain why so many family members are going out to be interviewed when they have so little to say or to add -- and continue to do so even though they keep on making fools of themselves. They may be family members that he was closer to or respects more than others. It would also be consistent with two facts which I have believed to be true: that the phony screen tear indicates an inside job and that the story first put out about the small window being the point of entry was bunkum, again indicating an inside job.

I will have to think on these things.

[ET(end tyranny)]

The milkman spotted the car a day or so before the kidnapping. Because the car drove slowly down the road, then up behind him, then passed. As the car passed the milkman tried to make eye contact, but the driver didn't turn his direction. The driver passed then shortly came back down the road again. And slowly. This is what made the milkman suspicious. So, he wrote the plate number down. He thought maybe the guy was going to try and steal some of his products.

If the driver IS a transient, he may not have any money, and might thought he could get some milk and cottage cheese ot something to eat. Maybe he's involved, maybe not, but he still have been looking for food and drink. The milkman hasn't seen him hanging around since the abduction.