I'd like to throw out something for consideration. Not certain how many will be interested. Anyone not interested, or in disagreement, is fine with me, please feel free to just go on to the next post. However, for what it's worth, I really don't want to argue about it, on the board. I'm just throwing it out, take it or leave it. Thanks...
At this point, I really think that something that is really worth considering concerning the possibility of actually closing the case on Jacob Wetterling's abduction. I think, as do quite a few others that the several attacks on young boys in Paynesville in earlier years, along with the attack on Jared in Jan '89 are Very, if not Extremely Likely to have been perpetrated by the same person who abducted Jacob. I would add to that, that, even if they were not, then they were separate attacks which in themselves should be resolved. So, frankly, either way you look at it; the crimes in Paynesville are worth paying significant attention to.
My thinking is that, Jacob's case has been opened as we all know now, just over 25 years; and has been the subject of the Largest Investigation in History for the State of Minnesota. The investigation has included the FBI as well as State, Local and probably Every Level of Authority that could and/or has ever possibly be involved in any investigation. The FBI was involved from the beginning. Still Unsolved. Are we any closer now? If we are, no one knows! You could say that if it's solved 15 years from now, that, Yes, we are closer to that, than we/they were 25 years ago (chronologically). But, again, No One Knows. That's kind of a lengthy/wordy way to just Emphasize the Point.
I believe that the most likely route to closure of Jacob's case, is to treat the attacks in Paynesville and Jared's attack just as seriously, and with as much attention and effort as they are giving to Jacob's case.
Also, funny things can happen when you take a New Attitude towards something; things come to the surface, that you may have not even considered. This may seem like an odd analogy, but, there's an old saying, "Watch the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves!" I heard it from Ross Perot, (not personally, seems to have worked for him). In this case, just a way of saying, gather all the information possible about the other cases which have previously seemed less significant, and maybe things will start falling into place.
Again, the likelihood that they're perpetrated by the same person is quite high. From what I've been able to gather, having followed this case for just about 2 months now (since the airing of Jacob's case on "The Hunt" on CNN) I am not certain just what the specific number of attacks in Paynesville is; and it kind of looks like, maybe no one, at least no one online, is certain either. Well, if they open the Paynesville cases, there's at least five, and likely more. I would like to see LE gather all possible information, I repeat and emphasize, All Possible Information on the known cases from Paynesville. In fact, if they do this, they may well find that there are other cases that had never even been reported at the time that they happened, that someone will be interested and willing to come forward now and give information on, now that they know that the cases are being looked at and being taken seriously. There's a lot more information available to LE, in researching all the circumstances involved in the numerous cases from Paynesville. Whether the victims of those crimes, may not want to come forward publically, I would expect that they would be willing to speak with authorities, if they felt that the case(s) were going to be taken seriously, and also because they'd be willing to help out in the cases of Jacob and Jared. At least most of them.
This would give investigators a lot more to go by in piecing together this guy's movements, his habits, mannerisms, vocabulary, how he dresses; get further input on the existing composite sketch; there maybe something that someone could add, such as the guy's complexion, his hair or who knows what else. True he wore a mask in many of those attacks, but, as I understand, not all of them; and maybe in some cases he wore a mask to cover his face but not his hair, maybe they could find something notable about his hair. For, instance, maybe he's redhead and Jared never noticed, because he was wearing his hat the whole time. I don't think that's too likely, I suppose that Jared would have noticed that, but, I'm just using that as an example, maybe he has thick curly hair, who knows. I would interview each victim asking for Any & Every Possible Things they can remember; anything he said, how he dressed, his shoes, his belt; possibly victims family members may remember something that the victim shared with them at the time that the victim doesn't seem to remember currently. In other words; Absolutely Any Information that can be gathered. Day, Time, Location of Attacks; and compile all this information, and also, I'd like to see that information shared with the public (minus victim's names) and see whether something comes to light that helps identify this guy. There could well be some clue in the most seemingly insignificant of things that the guy said at any point in time; possibly something that could give a hint as to where he works, or what general field of occupation he's in. Anything can help, and the more minutia gathered about the individual, the better. By Far!
As we all know, there's very little to go by in the case of Jacob, which is pretty likely why it's been unsolved.
I know that some if not many on this board are highly convinced that DR is the perpetrator; personally I'm not, and at least I wouldn't limit my thinking to him. However, even if he is, following the same practice, would also help if that's the case. It could also help in clearing some of the other known suspects, whittling down the suspect pool. LE is always keen to clear suspects who could not have possibly been involved in order to clear the workload.
It's hard to feel like I've expressed my thinking here well enough, so, I'll probably end up editing/adding to this post. For what it's worth.
