MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #14

[Ifollowthis]

Theory only, since I have no idea for sure who committed this crime. I am wondering if there were stop and start tracks belonging to a R vehicle on the driveway, that were not real suspicious until the Kevin vehicle was ruled out. It has always stood out to me that DR placed himself at the mail box. Maybe he was there and that could be what Aaron heard. He jogged back and got his mask and puffy coat and got in a vehicle and drove on the driveway about as far as the woodpile and walked to the road and waited. Again who dunnit changes often for me. DAH is far down my list, they have him and can easily get his shoe size,if the footprints matched his size at all he would have been a POI.

 

[pwesterner]

That says to me that LE has information that is credible to them and is not public.

I wonder if they actually have stated he is a POI in order to flush someone else from the shadows or make another person feel "the heat is off me and on this other guy."

Or DR knows who it is and has kept silent for two and a half decades because of the potential for harm to himself?

Puzzling to say the least. Maybe someday we'll know what really happened.

One of my main theories is that LE named DR a POI because they believe he knows who was involved and is covering for someone. Maybe LE can't disclose that to the public because whoever he's covering for would know they're on to him.

 

[chaplain1]

Theory only, since I have no idea for sure who committed this crime. I am wondering if there were stop and start tracks belonging to a R vehicle on the driveway, that were not real suspicious until the Kevin vehicle was ruled out. It has always stood out to me that DR placed himself at the mail box. Maybe he was there and that could be what Aaron heard. He jogged back and got his mask and puffy coat and got in a vehicle and drove on the driveway about as far as the woodpile and walked to the road and waited. Again who dunnit changes often for me. DAH is far down my list, they have him and can easily get his shoe size,if the footprints matched his size at all he would have been a POI.

I like your theory.

 

[ThePhantom]

Just adding to the list of family's activities. Jacob played hockey and I believe he and his Dad liked to go fishing. Here's something I've been trying to ascertain for a while, if anyone can help - been trying to find out the name of the hockey club/group Jacob was involved with. Evidently he played hockey, soccer, baseball and football.

Below are a few excerpts from a website called "Lighting Their Way Home." All of this information is part of the narrative that is Jacob's story.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It took the police 6 minutes to reach the Wetterling’s home, where they were then taken back to the site of Jacob’s abduction."

" It took no time at all before the FBI was alerted to Jacob’s case and called in. It turned out that FBI agent Al Cotelo was stationed in St. Cloud, and his son was a classmate of Jacob’s. Agent Cotelo called Al Garber, supervisor of the FBI’s Violent Crime Squad in Minneapolis, 30 minutes after Jacob had been abducted, and let him know about the circumstances surrounding Jacob’s disappearance."

"All the resources that could be accessed to aid in the search for Jacob were. At the height of the investigation, there were 70 investigators working on Jacob’s case full time. Every morning the team would begin with a briefing, then the phones would start ringing endlessly as tips and information poured in."

"Unfortunately, despite the man power devoted solely to finding Jacob, there was a complete lack of evidence. The crime scene yielded no physical evidence, despite having every inch covered with a fine toothed comb. There were no witnesses to the abduction besides Trevor and Aaron, and even then, they were terrified, and the abductor wore a mask, which prevented them from getting a good look at the man. The abduction occurred in an isolated area where a car wouldn’t attract attention, creating a shaky beginning to a difficult case"

"Jerry has expressed that he believes his son may have been stalked for several days before his abduction."

Abductor Profile

White Male

25-40 Years of Age

Height: 6’0” Weight: Husky Build with Broad Shoulders

Low, Raspy Voice

 

[chaplain1]

Just adding to the list of family's activities. Jacob played hockey and I believe he and his Dad liked to go fishing. Here's something I've been trying to ascertain for a while, if anyone can help - been trying to find out the name of the hockey club/group Jacob was involved with. Evidently he played hockey, soccer, baseball and football.

Below are a few excerpts from a website called "Lighting Their Way Home." All of this information is part of the narrative that is Jacob's story.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It took the police 6 minutes to reach the Wetterling’s home, where they were then taken back to the site of Jacob’s abduction."

" It took no time at all before the FBI was alerted to Jacob’s case and called in. It turned out that FBI agent Al Cotelo was stationed in St. Cloud, and his son was a classmate of Jacob’s. Agent Cotelo called Al Garber, supervisor of the FBI’s Violent Crime Squad in Minneapolis, 30 minutes after Jacob had been abducted, and let him know about the circumstances surrounding Jacob’s disappearance."

"All the resources that could be accessed to aid in the search for Jacob were. At the height of the investigation, there were 70 investigators working on Jacob’s case full time. Every morning the team would begin with a briefing, then the phones would start ringing endlessly as tips and information poured in."

"Unfortunately, despite the man power devoted solely to finding Jacob, there was a complete lack of evidence. The crime scene yielded no physical evidence, despite having every inch covered with a fine toothed comb. There were no witnesses to the abduction besides Trevor and Aaron, and even then, they were terrified, and the abductor wore a mask, which prevented them from getting a good look at the man. The abduction occurred in an isolated area where a car wouldn’t attract attention, creating a shaky beginning to a difficult case"

"Jerry has expressed that he believes his son may have been stalked for several days before his abduction."

Abductor Profile

White Male

25-40 Years of Age

Height: 6’0” Weight: Husky Build with Broad Shoulders

Low, Raspy Voice

I do believe Jerry stated the stalking thought prior to the KB revelation. Phantom, in your mind, where was the car for the getaway?

 

[Dave K]

Theory only, since I have no idea for sure who committed this crime. I am wondering if there were stop and start tracks belonging to a R vehicle on the driveway, that were not real suspicious until the Kevin vehicle was ruled out. It has always stood out to me that DR placed himself at the mail box. Maybe he was there and that could be what Aaron heard. He jogged back and got his mask and puffy coat and got in a vehicle and drove on the driveway about as far as the woodpile and walked to the road and waited. Again who dunnit changes often for me. DAH is far down my list, they have him and can easily get his shoe size,if the footprints matched his size at all he would have been a POI.

As far as I know, the problem with anything to do with prints, (tire or footprints) on the driveway, is that we have basically No Info from LE. We don't know what was or was not done. Tracker actually contacted LE, gave them his credentials, etc, and tried to get some info, and copies of crime scene photos, etc, and got no cooperation at all. So, all we have to go by is the various, very sparse screen pics that we can pic out of the few local news report videos, that have been seen by everyone here, and they're borderline worthless; they're all cropped so close that you can't even get a really good view of anything that would be helpful.

Can you (or anyone else) give me the reference you're talking about for DR placing himself at the mailbox. I expect that I may have it on one of my thousands (exaggeration) of links, but, not certain. I'm curious now to see what he says about that. A lot of times when you're reading or viewing something, you don't bother to note everything because, you don't necessarily see it as anything worth noting at the time. Thanks...

 

[MotherOcean]

Thanks for the informative post, Sasquatch. All of what you wrote makes sense. What I continue to struggle with about DR taking Jacob is -- how the heck did he cover Jacob's scent from the dogs,and, continue to hide Jacob under the nose of FBI and LE? Where did he take him? Is it possible that since he wasn't on LE's radar right away that he had time to take Jacob to a remote spot to hide him?

This is exactly what I need to know! If DR took Jacob, WHERE did he put him that night, the following days? Where would he have taken Jacob, if he killed him? How did he remove him from his farm? I have pondered this here before but don't think there were any responses. The matter of where Jacob is now, if DR is the perp., has been my hang-up in regards to DR. So, let's pretend DR did it... say he absolutely did abduct Jacob. Where is Jacob now?

 

[Sasquatch321]

This is exactly what I need to know! If DR took Jacob, WHERE did he put him that night, the following days? Where would he have taken Jacob, if he killed him? How did he remove him from his farm? I have pondered this here before but don't think there were any responses. The matter of where Jacob is now, if DR is the perp., has been my hang-up in regards to DR. So, let's pretend DR did it... say he absolutely did abduct Jacob. Where is Jacob now?

If he did it, we know he slipped past LE the next morning with what DR says was a trunk full of boxes/instrument cases. By the time investigators showed up st his work the trunk was empty and they never searched the band room to check the boxes he unloaded. When did investigators first find that out? it seems to me they would check that out if he had told them that morning. If this isn"t the scenario then I would guess he has hidden Jacob somewhere within a 5 acre radius of the farm. LE may have found unidentifiable remains in the gravel pit in 2010. They havent said specifically what was tested.

 

[ThePhantom]

Chaplain, if I could see what the "lay of the land" was like back then, I might be able to take guess about where a car might have been positioned. I'm sure others here who are local to the area can speak to the possibility of whether a car could have been parked without being seen. It was dark, according to what I read. But whoever this was, was bold as hell. So it was either someone who knew without a doubt that no one was around (DR?) and/or someone who had traversed that road before, perhaps stalking Jacob in the period prior to the abduction. This perp could have made a determination about the odds of anyone going up that road at night. Repeat offenders have been known to stalk their prey (a la BTK who stalked what he referred to as his "projects"). On the other hand the perp could have been the same snake who assaulted Jared -- and he was in the area -- and saw some boys that were his "type." It is possible he was drinking and thus imbued with the courage to follow his prey -- get ahead of them, park his car, get into a position and attack. Alternatively, if the perp was a hockey coach, he may have seen Jacob earlier in the day at practice and decided he wanted him -- or perhaps he had seen Jacob at prior hockey practices or games.

 

[ThePhantom]

It is mind boggling for me to know that LE was there, and DR could have absconded with Jacob right under their noses. But -- if the cops didn't even consider DR might have been involved (???), they might not have been even looking his way!! It's really hard to believe they wouldn't keep a close eye on him, given that Jacob went missing from his driveway. Right??

 

[pwesterner]

It is mind boggling for me to know that LE was there, and DR could have absconded with Jacob right under their noses. But -- if the cops didn't even consider DR might have been involved (???), they might not have been even looking his way!! It's really hard to believe they wouldn't keep a close eye on him, given that Jacob went missing from his driveway. Right??

I totally agree. And I can't get what DR said out of my mind...something along the lines of "If the cops would've came in that night it would've been over". I guess that could be taken either way. It would've been so much better for everyone and the investigation had they just went inside. Well I guess not for him if he was guilty...but yeah the investigation would either be over or in a much different place than it is now.

 

[cGorg]

As far as I know, the problem with anything to do with prints, (tire or footprints) on the driveway, is that we have basically No Info from LE. We don't know what was or was not done. Tracker actually contacted LE, gave them his credentials, etc, and tried to get some info, and copies of crime scene photos, etc, and got no cooperation at all. So, all we have to go by is the various, very sparse screen pics that we can pic out of the few local news report videos, that have been seen by everyone here, and they're borderline worthless; they're all cropped so close that you can't even get a really good view of anything that would be helpful.
Can you (or anyone else) give me the reference you're talking about for DR placing himself at the mailbox. I expect that I may have it on one of my thousands (exaggeration) of links, but, not certain. I'm curious now to see what he says about that. A lot of times when you're reading or viewing something, you don't bother to note everything because, you don't necessarily see it as anything worth noting at the time. Thanks...

See Joy's Blog "Dan's Story"....he placed himself at the mailbox via his 'jog' in the late afternoon.

 

[cGorg]

This is exactly what I need to know! If DR took Jacob, WHERE did he put him that night, the following days? Where would he have taken Jacob, if he killed him? How did he remove him from his farm? I have pondered this here before but don't think there were any responses. The matter of where Jacob is now, if DR is the perp., has been my hang-up in regards to DR. So, let's pretend DR did it... say he absolutely did abduct Jacob. Where is Jacob now?

I can't answer all of your questions but.....See human's reference to Somer Thompson(read the case for pertinent info)....despite all, dogs don't always follow the scent. IF....DR took Jacob then my guess is he or 'they' put him in a vehicle and stowed him in one of the 2 buildings that burned in 2009....most likely the larger one that housed antiques. Regarding that: DR stated that he saw a small dark car and possibly an occupant in the front passenger's seat with hands cupped over his(her?) eyes. He also stated that he was 100% certain that the daytime crazy driver was the perp and that he'd never seen anyone drive through his driveway before like that. Yet despite that occurrence, he witnessed another car do the same thing(albeit slightly not so fast but nearly so) and said nothing about it that night. He was alarmed by the men at the wood pile but not by the 2nd car streaking through the farmstead? So he saw a dark car drive through his farmstead(the yard light was on as always affording a view) with an occupant in the passenger's seat -which may have been a child or a female....he's not sure of the memory....but he said nothing to Officer Bechtold when he walked up the hill to the abduction site? If he suspected that this dark car was the abductors and Jacob had been spirited away......then WHY search the outbuildings?

 

[cGorg]

I totally agree. And I can't get what DR said out of my mind...something along the lines of "If the cops would've came in that night it would've been over". I guess that could be taken either way. It would've been so much better for everyone and the investigation had they just went inside. Well I guess not for him if he was guilty...but yeah the investigation would either be over or in a much different place than it is now.

It's a typical statement by DR....hard to read-doublesided....but my take has always been that Jacob was never in the house and so a search would have yielded nothing.

 

[pwesterner]

It's a typical statement by DR....hard to read-doublesided....but my take has always been that Jacob was never in the house and so a search would have yielded nothing.

When I first read somewhere that he said that, I automatically thought it was an admission of guilt. But then after thinking about it a little more, I can definitely see the other side of it and what he probably meant.

 

[MotherOcean]

If he did it, we know he slipped past LE the next morning with what DR says was a trunk full of boxes/instrument cases. By the time investigators showed up st his work the trunk was empty and they never searched the band room to check the boxes he unloaded. When did investigators first find that out? it seems to me they would check that out if he had told them that morning. If this isn"t the scenario then I would guess he has hidden Jacob somewhere within a 5 acre radius of the farm. LE may have found unidentifiable remains in the gravel pit in 2010. They havent said specifically what was tested.

I can't force myself to believe that he would have taken Jacob away in the instrument boxes. My mind just can't grasp that theory.

 

[Sasquatch321]

I can't force myself to believe that he would have taken Jacob away in the instrument boxes. My mind just can't grasp that theory.

The point is we are only taking DR's word for it that he had a trunk full of instrument cases, this apparently was not confirmed by investigators because they did not search the band room.

 

[cGorg]

When I first read somewhere that he said that, I automatically thought it was an admission of guilt. But then after thinking about it a little more, I can definitely see the other side of it and what he probably meant.

A declaration of innocence on one part but non-declaration on another part.

 

[chaplain1]

Believe DR had him gagged likely when called police around 11PM. Saw the response that night. Killed Jacob most likely. Got rid of obvious clothing stuff the next day. Disposed of body through lye or some other chemical agent.

 

[cGorg]

What was he doing between the time of the abduction and the 911 call? There's at minimum 45 minutes to 1 hour between the abduction and Kevin's trip through the farmstead and as it turns out more time until the search began in earnest with helicopters. So approximately from 10:30 to 11:23 the search was in full swing....yet DR makes no appearance until after 11:23?