Ashley Flowers

But this man had one more thing.

He was carrying a blue Walmart bag.

Now, Roxanne couldn't remember if they had brought any with them or not.

But if they didn't, it doesn't make sense that Bubba would have gone to a Walmart.

I mean, the closest one was over two hours away.

But it seems like once Highway 104 enters the picture, the focus switches fast.

And Gonzalez starts talking like Bubba for sure just walked off the campgrounds, reached the road and just kept going.

Mystery solved.

But that same day, police determined that the man on Highway 104 was someone else, a younger guy who was known in the area.

Our reporter Madison even tracked down the witness just to be extra sure that nothing was lost in translation.

And she confirmed, yeah, they saw a different person.

Total coincidence.

But even in the short time before they rule Bubba out as being this guy walking on Highway 104, something important has already happened.

This walk away theory has basically been reinforced.

And it's reinforced again in officers' minds when they call in to notify Bubba's family of his disappearance.

They first talk to Bubba's son, Daryl Johnson Jr., who is back in Phoenix.

The she he's referring to is Bubba's girlfriend, Allie.

Now, Daryl Jr.

told us that when he said that to the officer, the officer was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, what do you mean girlfriend?

Obviously, the officer had already been told by Allie herself that she's dating Ernie.