[Mr. Bird]

The odds of that are astronomical

Well, they go down a bit when the location is a popular recreation spot as well as an ideal place for anyone to dump a body. I'm not saying he didn't do it, but a defense attorney could probably walk that off. Of course, if he had never been there before that particular day (I don't know), I tend to agree with you.

[DB]

It isn't a "popular recreation spot" on Christmas Eve.

Very few murders involve dumping the body hours a way from where they are taken.

The Modesto area has lots of irrigation ponds and canals to dump somebody in. You don't have to drive far to find a "good" spot.

Again, the odds of being at a particular distant location the day your wife disappears, hours from her home, where she is later found dead is astronomically against.