This seems like sheer ego to me rather than responsible reporting. Until they actually have something that puts him in the area at the time of her disappearance, they have squat.
BTW, didn't she disappear in the summer? It seems unlikely that the odor of a decaying body locked in a ministorage in the summer heat wouldn't be noticed.
At the moment I still think Elizabeth was taken by a family member or someone else who was known to her. The father and uncles still give me the creeps.