With pressure mounting while the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington worked to confirm identification and cause of death, Rod Noble moved quickly to end wild speculation.

“Preliminary findings confirm the remains are those of a white male in his twenties,” Noble told reporters in a news conference.

But that didn’t end the questions.

Did the victim know Moore? Is his death linked to her disappearance? Is this the work of a serial killer?

The next day, supported by a preliminary report from the medical examiner, the VSP issued a news release confirming the identity of the deceased as Randall Allen Phillips, 22, of Bangor, Maine. Phillips, a hiker, had been missing for nearly a year. Search efforts at the time had yielded no results.

News reports indicated that to honor his father’s sudden death, Phillips had set out alone to fulfill his dad’s dream of a long-distance father-son trek along the eastern U.S. But Phillips became sick, then lost, and had wandered from the trail. He died of exposure and starvation. Noble and the VSP stressed that the tragedy had no connection to the Moore case.

As the search for Sam, and for answers in her mysterious disappearance continued, her face and description appeared all over social media, in diners, in truck stops, and in local malls.

A regional billboard company volunteered space and hurried to get notices posted.

A reward for information was established.

Many of her Uncle Mac’s friends in Toronto were retired detectives, and he was on his phone with them, seeking advice to ensure everything that could be done was being done. Noble was gracious about it, because he felt compassion for Sam’s family.

There were candlelight vigils and prayers.

National news organizations reported on Sam’s story, and for a moment, it seemed like the whole world was heartbroken and searching for her.

In the early days that followed, hope was strong.

But every tip and lead that had surfaced led to nothing, frustrating Noble and his team.

After a week, forensic analysis of the blood and hair recovered in the parking lot showed them to be consistent with Samantha Moore’s blood and hair. The VSP’s forensic experts also processed, analyzed, and cataloged every item belonging to Sam and Kevin, and returned most of them with the pickup truck.

By the end of the second week, the searches had all but ceased, and media interest had faded. That left Kevin, Lori, and Mac to face the anguish of returning to their lives without Sam, and without knowing what had happened to her.

Leo had volunteered to drive the truck back to New York, and arranged to keep Sam’s property safe. His cousin managed a storage locker facility in Long Island City, and would keep everything in a unit for free.