They held a funeral for Dave. They couldn't risk exposure. The easiest thing to do was say he was dead, hold a funeral, but actually ship him two thousand miles east.
The killer was never found. Or never revealed. The blue group was able to figure out the shooter but they didn't want to complicate things. Better to just say Dave -- the social media marketer -- was shot and killed. Shooter was never found. Believed to be a one-off killing. No need for locals to worry about it happening again.
The locals however seemed not assured. They were worried. One local, who seemed to have quite a following, was vocal. Asked to see the body of the victim. Cremated the planted spokeperson told the local. "cremated eh?" the local had taken a long swig of beer. Who drank beer at funerals anyways? "Figures." he had said.
The planted spokesperson was pretending to be Dave's brother. Where was he from?