It's yet another example of a small police department lacking the experience for dealing with complex, high-profile crime. This was first seen with the Jon-Benet Ramsey case.

In general, you want a small police department investigating a small crime, and a large police department investigating a big crime.

For example, if someone vandalizes your car, you will be laughed out of the LAPD if you report it. In a small town, with little else to do, they'll actually do some investigation on something like this. However, you want the LAPD on the job if you're dealing with a murder, because they have the experience and resources to handle it, whereas a small police department will be inexperienced and clueless.

They've already fucked this up by letting Brian Laundrie slip away, given the high probability the entire time that he killed her. At the very least, they should have made contact with him in person, and then kept him under surveillance 24/7.