I've been searching on and off for a few hours each day and only found one (the vial)? What kind of timeline are they supposed to show by?

No real time-line, just wait in between.. a couple of minutes between searches. And don't check the same place twice... I'll dig up the spoiler thread and link you to it so you can see all the search-able places

I found all mine within about 20 tries. I had to check each place twice to find the final item. It seems to vary with some people finding everything straight away and others having lots of trouble, which seems a little strange. :( If you've spent heaps of time on it, it may be worth filing a ticket and seeing if the staff can check to make sure it's working right. I don't think it was supposed to take hours and hours and prevent people from continuing the plot. Good luck! :)

Ah, I didn't realize the locations were more split up and I haven't been checking all of them. I'll do so and then send in a ticket if that doesn't help. Thank you both!