I'd say it relies less on coincidence than it does on (unseen) planning, timing, a knowledge of human nature, and the ability to predict people's reactions accurately - this is the essence of running a con, which we all know happens very successfully all the time.
For example, I imagine the couple waiting for a mother and young daughter, heading east on the road, to enter that rest stop bathroom first, then having the wife go in to wash her undies in the sink.
So, we have a mom cautious enough about her daughter's safety to not only accompany her to the rest room but share a stall, combined with the woman washing things in a rest stop sink; i.e., we have people hip to danger being shown a provocative act meant to draw attention.
The lady washing her things is clearly disturbed, so it's natural for the mom to ask how she's doing and if she's ok. When the man enters the bathroom (after listening through a vent - these bathrooms are lousy with them), the woman urgently hisses to the mom to leave them.
When mom does go, she and her daughter are forced to squeeze around the man's bulk, which takes up most of the exit doorway; that he doesn't make way for them is a sign that he is disrespectful to women and/or focused too dangerously intently on his wife.
To the right mind-set, the undies washing, hissing entreaty to be left alone, and physical intimidation of the man would constitute a series of red flags that would cause a cautious person to make note of car make-n-model and license - you bet! So the mom probably waited for the couple to exit the rest room so she could get that info...but they stay in there long enough to screw, making mom even more nervous about what might be happening in there. When they finally emerge, she keyed up enough to actually write the info down instead of trusting to memory!
Immediately, the couple report the woman "missing", her appearance, and where she went missing (around those woods) to get the cops involved and on the scene (enabling the man to come into contact with cops in his car later) - but the cops have to wait until someone is missing 24 hours to do anything about it. So the couple then goes to the old folks home and do their thing there, followed by the woman's "death" in the woods.
At some point between these events, the couple also alerts local news that the woman is "missing". The mom from the rest room was "heading east to see the in-laws" so by now, not only is she still in New England, she is most likely at her destination - not travelling - and likely to see the news. When she does, she remembers and reports what she saw - the woman's appearance and car make/model/license.
The thing is though, what the mom saw and reported is simply corroboration of what the couple reported when they reported the woman is "missing"...the plan will still work if the mom doesn't see the news and call in, but it works so much better if she does.
"...if only you could see what I've seen with your eyes!" Roy Batty
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