MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #12

[cGorg]

I don't think an 11 year old kid scared out of his mind, and in the pitch dark, can give an accurate description for height. Kids also don't understand 5'10 vs 6'2. He was 11 years old and much smaller than the man. I wouldn't discount MF just because he is 3-4 inches taller than the description stated.

I guess we can agree to disagree. My son is 11. He is into sports, playing + watching....he is well aware of player's heights + sizes as are his buddies. And he is cognizant of his Dad's size versus his Uncle's size....it's readily apparent. I think the perp size is important in Jacob's case. Even today, listening to the radio....descriptions are given as to race, height, build, of criminals at large. IMO, the perp in Jacob's case fits a certain body type and that is relevant to any possible suspects.

 

[Sasquatch321]

Who came in a vehicle wearing boots? Does it make sense that one would make a plan to do this and set out on his mission in big heavy boots, or does it seem like a split second decision to complete the disguise by DR? Boots-farm.

 

[cGorg]

Kevin has always been a red herring for me...I just don't understand why he waited. He has plenty of alibis.

We've never seen the guy, don't know his last name, and no one has verified they had contact with him that night. Do we even know for sure if the tire tracks matched the vehicle he was driving??

Not only a Red Herring for 15 years....but a Black Hole as well....no information emanating from this source. Seems to me his experience would lead to a lot of questions....nobody else actually traversed the crime scene like he did...yet he's silent(beyond Joy's blog).

 

[cGorg]

Who came in a vehicle wearing boots? Does it make sense that one would make a plan to do this and set out on his mission in big heavy boots, or does it seem like a split second decision to complete the disguise by DR? Boots-farm.

Interesting question. I was thinking more along the lines of runners shoes. (Sasquatch...where does it say that Jacob's abductor was wearing boots? I can't seem to find it)

 

[Trino]

Who came in a vehicle wearing boots? Does it make sense that one would make a plan to do this and set out on his mission in big heavy boots, or does it seem like a split second decision to complete the disguise by DR? Boots-farm.

Not everyone wears running shoes, especially those who work around heavy equipment. Boots could have been an everyday deal for the abductor.

 

[Trackergd]

A very interesting article that points out what can be learned and taken if footprints are left behind-

http://sifs.in/blog/forensic-significance-of-footmarks/

If a perp footprint was found they can possibly address the manner in how that person walks, how tall the person is, if the person is flat footed, what he weighs, and more. Wow.

That's what I have been trying to explain (unsuccessfully I gather) to you :facepalm: ...and what I have been doing in SAR for over 30 years...

One of my instructors was Tom Brown Jr http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Brown,_Jr.

I have worked with a number of local, state and federal agencies over the years.

 

[Shay]

Kevin was in the Tom Thumb or tallkingabout LE in the Tom Thumb???? I have never heard that.

And we have no idea if Kevin talked to LE that night.

He talked only to the "medical cop" right?

Kevin was playing cards with GF, Gf mother and anyone else?

He had an ailbi so why not say something.

A firefighter usually has good relationships with LE so the GF brother is a mystery.

So strange,

BBM

Very odd that he "protected" Kevin for 15 years! It's just his sister's boyfriend...why did he withhold this information? Isn't that illegal?

 

[Sasquatch321]

BBM

Very odd that he "protected" Kevin for 15 years! It's just his sister's boyfriend...why did he withhold this information? Isn't that illegal?

Yes it is illegal and who knows, maybe kevin and his girl are the culprits. LE is in command, we really dont know much and they do know much more.

 

[Sasquatch321]

Not everyone wears running shoes, especially those who work around heavy equipment. Boots could have been an everyday deal for the abductor.

Well who works on a sunday in 89? In my experience most heavy and general labor is shut down on Sundays.

 

[thenotebook]

Wouldn't LE have been able to determine the approximate shoe/boot size from the perps prints? Why wasn't this info ever released?!

Also...didn't Kevin just talk to the "medical cop" in the parking lot of Tom Thumb...?? Did he actually go into the store?

 

[ThePhantom]

Will LE ever release anything substantive to the public? Either rule people out or don't. It's been -- 25 years -- until they deign to favor us with something that might help enlighten or further guide us it's around and around the Mobius strip we go and where it stop nobody knows.

I hate it when the wheels of justice must turn this slowly.

 

[shergal]

Yes it is illegal and who knows, maybe kevin and his girl are the culprits. LE is in command, we really dont know much and they do know much more.

Please let me repeat... Kevin cannot be the "culprit" because he went chasing after police cars that were responding to Merle's 911 call. Therefore Jacob's abduction had already happened while Kevin was playing cards with his gf, his gf's brother, the brother's wife, and his gf's mom. I don't think Kevin can be two places at once.

 

[shergal]

Wouldn't LE have been able to determine the approximate shoe/boot size from the perps prints? Why wasn't this info ever released?!

Also...didn't Kevin just talk to the "medical cop" in the parking lot of Tom Thumb...?? Did he actually go into the store?

According to Joy, Kevin says he went into the store, saw a guy who looked like a cop, asked if he was a cop, and the guy said he was a "medical cop" - then he says as they were leaving Tom Thumb they saw a police car parked in front of Dr. Cotton's office (which used to be across the street from Tom Thumb) and Kevin got out and talked to that cop and told him about the bikes and that cop said they already knew about it. Kevin says this was the "new" cop in St. Joe whose name they didn't know yet. This "additional" information is evidently what Kevin told Joy and she wrote about in her blog. IMO, this is a bit different and has more details than what we heard back in 2004, when it was reported that Kevin turned around in DR's driveway, backed out and told a cop about bikes. But it could be no one in media ever asked him for more details before.

 

[Sasquatch321]

Please let me repeat... Kevin cannot be the "culprit" because he went chasing after police cars that were responding to Merle's 911 call. Therefore Jacob's abduction had already happened while Kevin was playing cards with his gf, his gf's brother, the brother's wife, and his gf's mom. I don't think Kevin can be two places at once.

So if Kevin is excluded and MF is excluded and all tire tracks are excluded, and LE has named for us a POI that is not being helpful, why shoild we exhaust energy on sex addicts that dont wear boots, dont have guns, and dont kill people. Our energy and pressure should fully and completely be turned on DR until he is cleared or convicted. The wetterlings are almost 70 years old, lets do what is right now.

 

[Trino]

While I'm glad the posters focus on this case, I don't know after 25 years of silence that someone is going to have a conscience. Stearns Co once had a reputation as a rather closed society. With new people moving in, I assume this may have change, but there is still the older faction present.

 

[kemo]

So if Kevin is excluded and MF is excluded and all tire tracks are excluded, and LE has named for us a POI that is not being helpful, why shoild we exhaust energy on sex addicts that dont wear boots, dont have guns, and dont kill people. Our energy and pressure should fully and completely be turned on DR until he is cleared or convicted. The wetterlings are almost 70 years old, lets do what is right now.

Sasquatch,

<modsnip>

When I first became aware of your posts, I saw you as a positive step in advancing this investigation. I figured that if you were correct, enough evidence would come forward to support it. If not, that line of inquiry could be put aside and we could move on.

Your position was based on the premise that Kevin's report effectively ruled out the use of an auto in the abduction and all tire tracks were identified and no other vehicle could have been on that driveway that night.

If these premises were established facts, it would would form a pretty solid case against DR. But they are not. LE representatives in Sterns Co have been quoted as saying that Kevin 's report only opened the possibility that there was no vehicle. No one has offered up any evidence that "all tire tracks are excluded". In facts, very little information about the tire tracks or what conclusions can be drawn from them has been released. You have suggested that LE would only name DR as a POI if there was solid evidence. You then conclude that this solid evidence is the "facts" that the use of a vehicle has been ruled out and all tire tracks have been exclude. You then treat them as uncontested Facts. If anyone challenges then, you just ignore whatever is said, and go back to treating them as the gospel truth.

<modsnip>

If you feel that you can support your position with facts and coherent argument, by all means do it. That is what this forum is for. If it is all just a " gut feeling" or just an absolute faith in the opinions of LE in general or one particular official. Fine. Just say it.

<modsnip>

 

[Sasquatch321]

Not on a witch hunt and dont want to cause turmoil. Just looking to keep talking, progressing, and understanding. We need both sides to come to the conclusion, we're getting there.

 

[human]

Unless someone on here is LE I don't think anyone on here named DR as the POI.

That is a FACT that we have to work with.

What that FACT means, we are trying to figure out.

None of the criminals have been named as a POI.

There are people I wish could be the perp, but apparently not.

 

[Mossad]

Prov. 11:14

 

[Sasquatch321]

Unless someone on here is LE I don't think anyone on here named DR as the POI.

That is a FACT that we have to work with.

What that FACT means, we are trying to figure out.

None of the criminals have been named as a POI.

There are people I wish could be the perp, but apparently not.

This is why I invite any argument and suspect. We have a POI, and we are figuring it out.