Yes, unless there is evidence that puts the suspect on the plane it's simply not a prosecutable case. I had a case where the feds knew for sure that my client was responsible for a really serious crime but just couldn't put him at the scene. So they started looking for other ways to tag him and put him away. The found a mortgage loan application full of lies about income and sources. Although he had never missed a payment, he was convicted of loan fraud and sentenced to prison. The sentence was very harsh. The judge and the prosecutors were really sentencing him for something else.
What we armchair sleuths consider "solving" the case can fall way short of the proof needed for a successful prosecution. The FBI doesn't care much about a solution that cant support a prosecution. They are not in the mystery solving business.
377
