The Rich, The Poor, The Missing
There used to be a local Houston consumer advocate that used to say, "It's hell to be poor!" When it comes to cold case murders and the missing, that statement apply's as well.
When a person goes missing, cops are a bit discriminating as you can tell by their enthusiasm when investigating the case. You can research it yourself and be sick as I was.
Police are quick to get a killer to confess to cold cases only because it would close the case and no investigation is needed any longer. New leads are often dismissed as conjecture or conspiracy and put under the table and forgotten. Meanwhile the real killer still runs loose.
Police look at the missing who are poor or have a record as "just another case" or "misdemeanor murders" because they surrounded themselves with the situation that got them murdered or missing. They are not a priority case. When a "well off" person goes missing or killed, they call out the forces and work on it whole heartedly . You can ask any cop you know.
In the case of Laura Smither, cops are wanting to close the case and charge William Reece. I think they are wrong, this wasn't Reece's MO or style. Laura was found with her throat cut and laid out in a retention pond in Pasadena.
When Reece murdered Tiffany Johnston in Oklahoma he knew he messed up by leaving her body to be found. After he killed Kelli Cox and Jessica Cain, he buried their bodies, hiding them for all these years. This is just my opinion.
I think the killer of Laura Smither is someone she knew, perhaps someone close to the family. Someone who knew her routine, maybe even a neighbor maybe even someone she went to church with. Hey, her body was found near a church. It was someone that knew that area and knew it well. The killer wanted he body to be found, no doubt. I bet if police searched a five mile area surrounding where they found Laura's body, they will probably find another.
Jim