"Perhaps we should begin focusing on the victims," Hotch called his team back to the question at hand. "Garcia, what can you tell us about them?"
"Well," Garcia consulted her tablet as a picture appeared on the computer screen. "The first victim, that is the body found at the site of the second sighting, has been positively identified as Lillian Williams. She was 35 years old, married to the same man for the past 12 years with two young children. Works as a lab tech at a company that analyses samples of blood, pus, and other assorted bodily yucky stuff for doctor's offices in the area. She has been at that job for the past 14 years. No problems at work or at home that I can discover, and her husband has a solid alibi for the time of her disappearance."
"He told the police that his wife stops on her way home from work to pick up pizza from that particular location two or three times a month?" Blake was reading from her file.
"That is correct," Garcia verified. "And, it wasn't on any particular schedule."
"So, we could be looking at a crime of opportunity," Morgan observed, paging through his file.
"Someone just happened by and saw her," JJ suggested.
"What about our other recent victim?" Rossi asked.
"That would be Ruth Snow," Garcia replied as another picture appeared. "Again, it was late afternoon when she disappeared. She had apparently just finished shopping at the mall and was getting into her car. Her packages, her phone, and her purse were found in the vehicle."
"What else can you tell us about Ms. Snow?" Reid asked, leafing through his file.
"Well, she was 46 years old and had been married for the past 20 years to Dr. Donald Snow, a researcher at Center Line Labs. She appears to have been a stay at home mom with three children, aged 18, 16 and 10. Again, no problems with either the husband or the children that I can discover.
"Husband has been cleared?" Blake questioned.
"He has 'kind of' been cleared," Garcia confirmed. "On the day in question he was out doing field work and by that I mean he was literally working in the field. It appears that his area of expertise is investigating various herbal remedies and determining whether they are worth pursing for commercial purposes, and that includes growing said herbs."
"So, presumably, he has access to drugs for poisoning his wife if he wanted to get rid of her?" Hotch inquired.
"Presumably," Garcia replied. "But, as I said, I am still checking."
"What about the other, unidentified, victim?" JJ asked.
"Still unidentified," Garcia told her. "As soon as any further information is available, I will let you know."
"Thanks, Garcia," Hotch told the tech as the screen went blank.
"Okay," Hotch began the next phase of the team's discussion. "What do we know about these victims and, by association, about the unsub?"
"Both were low risk victims, who were abducted without raising a fuss," Blake began. "That means he probably comes across as non-threatening."
"He might even be someone they know," Reid contributed. "That would account for his ability to get physically close enough to these women to grab them."
"Neither woman was particularly large or strong," Morgan was reading from his tablet. "Subduing them wouldn't be all that difficult."
"Both of these abductions could be crimes of opportunity," Rossi suggested. "These women were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"That would eliminate stalkers," JJ observed. "I assume neither woman reported being stalked?"
"Not according to the information Garcia sent," Hotch recalled. "We can verify that with the authorities when we land."
"There is one thing that I would like to know," Reid spoke up. "It concerns the skeleton that was found."
"What do you see?" Blake had pulled up the pictures and was looking at them.
"These bones appear to have splintered when they broke," Reid was also examining the pictures. "That could mean that they were old and dried out."
"Are you suggesting that this could be an old skeleton that predates these UFO sightings and the murders?" Morgan asked.
"That is a possibility," Reid replied. "I would like to take a good look at it."
"I assume it has gone to the coroner's, along with the two bodies," Hotch said. "Why don't you and Blake start there?"
"Okay," Blake smiled at Reid as she agreed to the arrangement.
"And, Morgan and JJ, I think you should go the site of the latest sighting while it is still light out," Hotch continued his assignments. "See what you think."
"So, that leaves you and me to head over to the sheriff's office," Rossi assumed.
"Not quite, Dave," Hotch told his senior agent. "I think you should meet Dr. Hayward when his plane arrives. I need someone who can make sure he comes directly to the sheriff's office and not to the crime scene."
"You don't trust him?" Rossi guessed.
"I don't know him," Hotch replied. "And, regardless of what his reputation says, I would like to reach my own conclusions."
"I think I can arrange for that," Rossi smirked.