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

[Trino]

Interesting about the Kerrick property. It would be minimal time on 35. The most direct route would be on 23 to Kerrick.

 

[chaplain1]

May 16, 1996: . A Paynesville-area man who fit the description of a man suspected of abducting and sexually assaulting a Cold Spring boy. Authorities searched his home three months after the Cold Spring abduction. Police then said that the man wasn’t a top suspect in the St. Joseph abduction, but at least one paragraph in the search warrant was blocked out.
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Does anyone know on what grounds a paragraph in a search warrant is blocked out?

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Trying to keep some dialogue going here. Can't give up on Jacob.

This gentleman is litigious and has tremendous pull surrounding reputation.

 

[shergal]

While that may be the case; it seems to me, more significant, that the search coincided with the selling of the property; in other words, the FBI may have been interested in whoever owned the property prior to the sale and wanting to search the property, but, didn't have anything solid on the person and couldn't get a search warrant; once it changed hands, they just asked the new owner for permission to search. It would be curious to know who owned and/or lived on the property prior to the sale. If someone were really good at searching public records, which some are, and I'm not, it probably could be discovered who owned and/or lived on the property. Odd thing that it was an old church and a house; wonder about the circumstances of the church.

What we don't know, among other things, is, were they interested in the person who lived there, prior to the sale, but, didn't have anything solid on them and couldn't get a search warrant, or, were they interested in something that may have happened there previously, (like just possibly, there had been rumor that Jacob may have been held there for some period of time, or something of that nature) and they couldn't get a warrant, and the owner at the time wouldn't give them permission to search. There's way too much that we don't know about what did or did not happen, and why.

LE may have been searching for ties with various suspects they had looked at. Or maybe they were just following a tip they got, that someone had seen something at that residence, or knew someone who lived there who acted odd. Hard to say. At least it shows LE was following lots of leads and not just twiddling their thumbs.

 

[shergal]

This gentleman is litigious and has tremendous pull surrounding reputation.

I'm not sure what gentleman you are referring to, but I think this reference to a "Paynesville man" was probably about DAH. He was no gentleman.

 

[chaplain1]

I'm not sure what gentleman you are referring to, but I think this reference to a "Paynesville man" was probably about DAH. He was no gentleman.

I thought it was the one guy who had details removed from his file inexplicably

 

[ELOCsoul]

There was a movie on television the night of October 22, 1989, "Do You Know the Muffin Man?". The plot was about a man who sexually assaulted a boy - I sometimes wonder, if the abductor was local, if he had been watching that movie that night, and it served as a "trigger" for him.

 

[Sleutherish]

I'm not sure what gentleman you are referring to, but I think this reference to a "Paynesville man" was probably about DAH. He was no gentleman.

I take it as DH, not DAH. He was no gentleman, either. I wish I had info on how tall he was, whether his property was searched before it was sold.

 

[ELOCsoul]

"I purchased an old church and house near Kerrick Mn about 10 years ago and out of the blue some FBI agents showed up and wanted to look around.

I let them look. They were there for about 3 hours. Then they thanked me and left. They weren't at liberty to tell me anything only that it involved the Wetterling case.

I never heard from anyone else."

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This is a comment from June, 2014 that I read in another forum. So eleven years ago FBI was still actively chasing down leads on Jacob. I guess they always will ...

I can confirm that this search took place. Very intriguing, particularly with regards to a man who lived about 15 miles away and was investigated in connection to the case.

 

[Sleutherish]

I can confirm that this search took place. Very intriguing, particularly with regards to a man who lived about 15 miles away and was investigated in connection to the case.

Moose lake?

 

[shergal]

Publications of interest:

This is the current card (link below) used by investigators working a child abduction. Many of these practices were put into effect after Jacob's abduction. It was developed through the Jacob Wetterling Foundation and the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children (NCMEC). It's interesting to go through the steps and see how much more effective the initial investigation might have been if some of these steps were in place back then. A lot of this information wasn't available back in 1989, such as having a sex offender registry available. Patty Wetterling was instrumental in getting many of these steps to become common practice in a child abduction.

http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC88.pdf

For those newer to Jacob's thread who haven't seen this, this is a booklet Jacob's siblings and some other missing children's siblings put together to help siblings cope when their brother or sister is abducted. Titled "What About Me? Coping with the Abduction of a Brother or Sister" it contains guidance, tips, support from eight siblings who lost a brother or sister. Included are quotes from Jacob's siblings, photos, and their (brief) story.

https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/217714.pdf

 

[thenotebook]

Did the man who was arrested and released ever live in Paynesville?

 

[chaplain1]

There was a movie on television the night of October 22, 1989, "Do You Know the Muffin Man?". The plot was about a man who sexually assaulted a boy - I sometimes wonder, if the abductor was local, if he had been watching that movie that night, and it served as a "trigger" for him.

I could imagine watching a little television while organizing some records for several hours after a rigorous jog.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

I believe that this is someone that was not far. I believe that if they find him he will not be far at all.

 

[ELOCsoul]

Moose lake?

No, but close. Also - this search near Kerrick was in 2006. So, that shows that LE continued to explore the possibility that Jacob was taken away in a vehicle, even after their change in theory of the crime. Point is, they continued to look into all possibilities.

 

[Dave K]

I can confirm that this search took place. Very intriguing, particularly with regards to a man who lived about 15 miles away and was investigated in connection to the case.

Do you know, or does anyone know, who lived at and/or, who owned the property before it was sold?

 

[chaplain1]

Do you know, or does anyone know, who lived at and/or, who owned the property before it was sold?

Abandoned churches have become popular home renovation sites in the Midwest.

 

[human]

Search the assessors site in that county. Once you have an address, it may show past owners. Can't remember.

Or if you put the address into a search engine, info may come up. Not sure and too lazy to do it myself

 

[pwesterner]

There was a movie on television the night of October 22, 1989, "Do You Know the Muffin Man?". The plot was about a man who sexually assaulted a boy - I sometimes wonder, if the abductor was local, if he had been watching that movie that night, and it served as a "trigger" for him.

Really? Very interesting...and creepy. You never know. I've always wondered what set the perp off that night. If he lived in the area like many believe, and there was obviously no history of an abduction like Jacob's... what was it that set him off that night? Why that night? Why Jacob?

 

[shergal]

Search the assessors site in that county. Once you have an address, it may show past owners. Can't remember.

Or if you put the address into a search engine, info may come up. Not sure and too lazy to do it myself

Did it. Found it. Thanks. Not posting any owners names though.

 

[ThePhantom]

By DIRK JOHNSON, Special to The New York Times
Published: April 29, 1990

"Around town nearly every mailbox is wrapped with a white ribbon. Some people have erected signs in their front yards for Jacob, or placed his picture in their windows. A sign at the local Phillips 66 gasoline station reads, ''Please let Jacob come home.''

The Wetterlings have received letters and calls from around the world. Someone sent a photograph of Jacob's name painted in large letters on the Berlin wall, and enclosed a chunk of the wall for Jacob when he gets home. A woman wrote of traveling in the Bahamas and entering a chapel in a tiny town where a candle burns next to a newspaper photograph of Jacob.

Canada's Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney, called Mrs. Wetterling and promised, ''If he's in Canada, we'll get him home to you.''

A letter from Barbara Bush arrived the other day. Mrs. Wetterling had written the President's wife, asking her to speak out for the welfare of children. ''Your letter and your words of anguish over the abduction of your precious Jacob tore my heart,'' Mrs. Bush wrote. ''Keep fighting, shouting and keep on hoping.''