MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #1

[daisy7]

http://www.sctimes.com/article/2010...nt-enters-farm-near-Wetterling-abduction-site

[snip]...Sanner said a court order prohibits him from saying why more than a dozen vehicles and numerous officers are searching the site. FBI spokesman E.K. Wilson said the FBI was assisting in a search warrant operation in the area. Investigators from the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension also were involved in the search...[snip]

Wonder how they got a SW now and not 20 years ago?

 

[carbuff]

LE cannot search private property without permission or a warrant. No matter how much they would like to they cannot. Did the property recently change hands?

No, as the articles repeatedly point out, the same people owned the property and lived there.

The articles mention that the farm has been searched twice before, so it seems likely that the owners give permission. But I thought one of the articles mentioned a search warrant, too.

edited to add: Shay beat me to it.

 

[carbuff]

Wonder how they got a SW now and not 20 years ago?

The property has been searched before. Twice, according to the articles.

 

[WhyaDuck?]

Wonder how they got a SW now and not 20 years ago?

Hi Daisy - where did you see they had no search warrant for the previous two searches? I must be missing something, which wouldn't be the first time.

Also, I think the change in this case really revolved around them abandoning the idea that the perp got away in a car in 2003/4, when the car that was spotted was discovered to be uninvolved. (Though I realize it was certainly possible for the perp to have hidden his car not far away, but that it was just never spotted.) Since then, I should think the homes around immediately around the abduction site became a lot more important. Perhaps that made the difference in the theory of the crime to allow for search warrant.

 

[Mr. E]

I wonder if anything will come of this? It seems so obvious...can you imagine if Jacob was in that house when the police questioned the man but didn't enter the house? I wonder what the community's opinion of the man is.

Still, I've always thought that Jacob was whisked away from the area fairly quickly, even if the boys didn't see a vehicle.

 

[WhyaDuck?]

They only have until noon for the SW... I wonder if they will hold a presser at some point soon, or whether life will just go on as normal.

I hope they are at least going to give some sort of update to Jacob's parents at the end.

 

[carbuff]

I wonder if anything will come of this? It seems so obvious...can you imagine if Jacob was in that house when the police questioned the man but didn't enter the house? I wonder what the community's opinion of the man is.

Still, I've always thought that Jacob was whisked away from the area fairly quickly, even if the boys didn't see a vehicle.

bbm -- It wouldn't be the first time that had happened.

 

[Shay]

They only have until noon for the SW... I wonder if they will hold a presser at some point soon, or whether life will just go on as normal.

I hope they are at least going to give some sort of update to Jacob's parents at the end.

Looking out my office window, I can see a helicopter hovering over the site...very hard to get any work done.

The Wetterling's still live in the same house as they did 21 years ago. They drive on this very road every single day, so sad to think Jacob may have been "right there" all this time.

 

[Shay]

http://www.twincities.com/ci_15415801

Interesting article..talks about how easy it is to get a search warrant to dig up private property, also mentions the 54 year old man who lives there has take a lie detector test in the past.

[snip]...Lawrence Nichols, an Eagan-based defense attorney who was a childhood neighbor of Patty Wetterling, said the burden of proof necessary to excavate private property was no greater than what is needed for a typical police search of a home or office...[snip]

[snip]...Rassier, 54, who lives with his parents at the farm, has previously submitted DNA and undergone hypnosis as well as a lie-detector test in connection to the Wetterling investigation, Rassier's brother said...[snip]

 

[GoJacks]

http://www.ksfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=12741632

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. (AP) - Investigators are digging at the central Minnesota property near where 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted at gunpoint nearly 21 years ago.

Aerial footage shown in KTSP-TV shows a backhoe is digging up the ground on the St. Joseph property and piling dirt into a dump truck. The Star Tribune reports that Stearns County officials, an FBI special agent, K-9 teams, and a Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are all on the scene.

Authorities have said little about the search that began Wednesday in St. Joseph.

Stearns County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Bruce Bechtold says a court order restricts him from discussing the investigation.

Jacob was riding his bike with his brother and a friend in 1989 when a masked man with a gun approached them. The boys said the man took Jacob. There have been no arrests.

 

[chaddylex]

Not trying to pass judgement of any sort, but I am wondering how the 54 yr old music teacher is viewed in his community? Wonder what kind of person he is?

The interview I watched struck me as being strange. If I knew their was a hunt going on for a kidnapping on my property, I would be trying to assist in anyway I could.

Jacob's case has been one that has been on my mind for years along with Cherie Mahan, who was last seen getting off her school bus from Cabot PA in 1984. (an hour from where i live).

I hope Jacob's family finally get the closure they need.

 

[Cubby]

According to my 2003 plat book, the Rassier's own 158 acres.

Thank you so much! I was hoping someone had access to plat information. WOW! That is one large piece of land! A lot of ground to cover for a search.

Can you give us an idea of the landscape? Is it mostly open, wooded? Is anything being planted there?

glad to have a local on the forum! thanks!

 

[Cubby]

Any idea's on why the search warrant has an expiring time of noon?
Would this possibly mean they are looking for something specific or in specific area's?
Or could this simply mean they don't want the search to go on endlessly?

100+ acre's is a lot of ground to cover.

TIA

 

[Kelly Faraday]

I wonder if anything will come of this? It seems so obvious...can you imagine if Jacob was in that house when the police questioned the man but didn't enter the house? I wonder what the community's opinion of the man is.

Still, I've always thought that Jacob was whisked away from the area fairly quickly, even if the boys didn't see a vehicle.

I think you are probably right. However, his comment along the lines of if they had just searched the house that night, it would have been over, stood out to me for some reason. I assume he means then they would have known Jacob wasn't there and he would have been instantly cleared. But at the same time, the cynical part of me wonders if that was a subconscious slip.

Too bad they cut the interview off and we didn't get to hear the entire thing.

Kelly

 

[WhyaDuck?]

Any idea's on why the search warrant has an expiring time of noon?
Would this possibly mean they are looking for something specific or in specific area's?
Or could this simply mean they don't want the search to go on endlessly?

100+ acre's is a lot of ground to cover.

TIA

Well, I am not 100% certain it expires at noon; just that LE said they'd be there til noon, which, in my head, means the same thing - why would they stop short of their time?

I guess it was only good for 24 hours, for some reason. I am glad they searched well into the night last night (3am, I think I read), so they made the most of their time.

Interesting, though, that they went in yesterday with ground crews and dogs, and choppers, and then, today, go in with digging equipment... I wonder if that means they found something worth looking harder at yesterday?

 

[DeeMarie]

Star Tribune: 1:16PM today

http://www.startribune.com/local/97...qyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU1yDEmP:QMDCinchO7DU

Sniped:
"...Wetterling, who recently broke her ankle, said she had a dream two months ago. In it, her son had been found, but had hurt his leg.
"I hadn't seen him in all these years," she said, fighting back tears. "He said 'Mom, how'd you get so old?'"..."

 

[justbeachy]

Star Tribune: 1:16PM today

http://www.startribune.com/local/97...qyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU1yDEmP:QMDCinchO7DU

Sniped:
"...Wetterling, who recently broke her ankle, said she had a dream two months ago. In it, her son had been found, but had hurt his leg.
"I hadn't seen him in all these years," she said, fighting back tears. "He said 'Mom, how'd you get so old?'"..."

Wow. That is really sad. I just can't imagine living with this pain all these years. Hopefully they will get some closure.

 

[Trino]

LE cannot search private property without permission or a warrant. No matter how much they would like to they cannot. Did the property recently change hands?

No. The property has been owned by DR's parents for many years. Either they gave previous permission to search the property or a warrant was issued.

 

[celticthyme]

Purely conjecture and speculation, but from reading the various boards and articles, if the new young detectives were revisiting this crime ( and now know the car at the scene belonged to a local, who came came forward in 2004 ) they really must logically think about this abduction being planned and carried out by someone quite familiar with the area.

This brings them back to where Jacob's foot prints were seen at the head of the Rassier driveway. If the parents were gone, and the son, or another local, saw an opportunity, the timing was perfect. Either way, it surely bears further investigation. The fact that they have brought in the specialized K-9 units could be why there is serious digging in specific areas, where they were lead by the dogs.

For me, the lessons learned from this, and other similar abductions, are that, no matter what, RUNNING or getting away may be a safer option. A preditor is looking for a victim, not really looking to kill. I've always wondered what might have happened if they had just gone like hell on those bikes and never looked back.

It sounds from all I have read, that LE pretty much overlooked the people in the immediate area!!!! Hindsight always provides more information. I do know that these parents are very well respected in this community.

 

[Mom who cares]

Prayers to the Wetterling's during this time. May the answers you have searched for for so many years finally be yours.