Maybe the thing tapped on the back window even though it shattered the front window 🤷‍♀️. I also don't know how he got home. There is a very good chance that OPs body was dumped in the woods.

I feel like there should have been no way it found him after driving 250 miles. Op never said it had a car so idk. But if it could find him in his car after driving 250 miles I would assume it could sense where he is and never would have been tricked by the blanket covered junk.

It is wouldn't have been tricked by OPs tri k than it is probably the Doppelganger that lived. Also maybe they were both doppelgangers the while time and there would have been black tar no matter who died.