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

[chaplain1]

I've never really understood the allure of the Paynesville case. There is one news article about it which is reiterated for significance, the rest of the alleged victims just emailed Joy. So little is known that it is hard to see a pattern because it is unclear what kind of molestation we are talking about compared to Jared. Yes, the John Douglas school of Profilers tend to believe in escalation of boundaries that lead to more violent crimes.

But, why go from randomly plucking kids (boys and girls) from Paynesville to luring Jared to violently abducting Jacob? I see a possible connection between Jared and Jacob, primarily because they came from loving families when other potential victims are much easier. I see the escalation issue here because victim selection is similar and particular.

Paynesville to me seems like a random pedophile preying on children in a particular area.

 

[ThePhantom]

So I decided to watch again a video about Jacob's abduction that mostly featured his best friend Aaron talking. The first thing that struck me was the deep anguish and profound sorrow he continues to feel about what happened to his friend He said he still remembers it like it happened yesterday. "Jacob was a great person." "It was so dark you couldn't see anything." The man was dressed all in black, and as I saw his silhouette, I heard him say, "Stop! I have a gun."

Then Aaron said, "It would send chills up my spine to hear his voice again."

Oh how I would love the opportunity to run some voices past him .. just to see which voices might be capable of giving him the chills twenty five years later...

 

[shergal]

PWesterner brought this up a few days ago; I copy/quoted a couple of the response here. Other than that, I don't think there've been too many responses.

I'm curious, the board's been quite slow for a few days now.

I'm wondering if anyone is interested in weighing in on this; and I'm wondering if we can set it up in two posts. One post a basic "Yea" and another post a basic "Nay" - posters can weigh-in, just by thanking post #1 "Yea" or by thanking post #2 "Nay" - or, obviously, anyone can go ahead and reply and elaborate on their thoughts, if interested.

Post #1: "Yea" - I think there's a 60 - 90% chance that the crimes are related. (50 - 90% if you're more comfortable with that).

Nope. I don't think they are related. (You can set up a poll on here also for this.)

 

[ThePhantom]

Continuing my study of the case, from the "Raw Interview" Fox 9 News video:

Aaron says, "Honestly, I think it's a voice I'll never forget." "The meter of his voice."

Then the reporter goes on to ask him about Delbert Huber's voice, to which Aaron responds, "I don't know. It didn't stand out as much as I thought it would"
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Perhaps it is because he has not heard the "chilling voice" again, because no one has presented it to him -- yet --

 

[pwesterner]

Thanks Dave for bringing up my question again. I just thought it would be interesting to see where people stand because so many ideas, opinions and theories have been presented by different people over time, it's hard to keep track of who thinks what. I myself am torn but can't organize my thoughts right now, so I will post tomorrow after I ponder it awhile and regroup my thoughts/ideas again. (I haven't thought about it critically for awhile)

 

[pwesterner]

Oh how I would do anything to solve this horrible case...

 

[bucshunter]

Continuing my study of the case, from the "Raw Interview" Fox 9 News video:

Aaron says, "Honestly, I think it's a voice I'll never forget." "The meter of his voice."

Then the reporter goes on to ask him about Delbert Huber's voice, to which Aaron responds, "I don't know. It didn't stand out as much as I thought it would"
-----------------------------------------------

Perhaps it is because he has not heard the "chilling voice" again, because no one has presented it to him -- yet --

I wonder if Aaron is familiar with DR?

 

[ThePhantom]

Aaron is probably a great deal more familiar with DR, DH and a few others than he is with any other potential suspects-- I imagine.

 

[Sasquatch321]

I believe Jacobs case is alone, having been to the area.

 

[cGorg]

I have a neighbor at 'the lake'. Middle aged man, soft spoken, always pleasant. Then one time I attended a football game with him and all of a sudden out of the blue....he had a completely different voice when cheering and yelling at the refs. Completely surprised me when I heard it.

I'd like to believe all 3 cases are connected and that if 1 perp committed all crimes and if he was ever caught- then they would all be solved at once. However, my perception is that Paynesville, Jared's, and Jacob's perps exhibited different 'personalities' as it were. JMHO.

 

[Sasquatch321]

Some people are saying that it is possible a car was used even though LE changed their theory to someone on foot after kevin came forward. Since Kevin was the last person to drive the entire driveway after the abduction had just happened, how do you have a cast of a footprint sitting on top of that tire track?

 

[ThePhantom]

Sasquatch, I'm thinking perhaps the footprints led to a spot where the car was mostly hidden - but since I have not been to the abduction site as you and others here have, I am unable to visualize whether it was possible to have a vehicle situated within close proximity - close enough to drag (or carry) Jacob to. Recall Aaron's comment that it was so dark one could barely see. Then again I suppose it is possible DR dragged Jacob into his basement/a shed/somewhere else on the property - but I go back to why were dogs unable to pick up his scent past that spot on the driveway?

 

[chaplain1]

I believe Jacobs case is alone, having been to the area.

I am 95/5 in Jacob being alone for the same reason. Unfortunately, the area was not friendly to boys or girls and had an array of predators.

 

[shergal]

Some people are saying that it is possible a car was used even though LE changed their theory to someone on foot after kevin came forward. Since Kevin was the last person to drive the entire driveway after the abduction had just happened, how do you have a cast of a footprint sitting on top of that tire track?

View attachment 67847

That photo was taken after the casts were made, so it could have been just a print from whomever laid the casts down there in the driveway. That actually looks to me more like the stop and start of the vehicle to me than a footprint though. I'm always baffled why there isn't a matching tire print to this one on the road. We see pretty much of the road in some of these pictures, yet there is just a single tire track showing.

 

[Sasquatch321]

I am 95/5 in Jacob being alone for the same reason. Unfortunately, the area was not friendly to boys or girls and had an array of predators.

Like MF, a predator monster, was in kiwi court dropping off a victim within possibly minutes of the abduction.

 

[Wisdom]

Hello everyone. I'm new here but have been reading old threads and am finally caught up (almost). The 25th anniversary was the first time I heard about this case. This case has me completely baffled and frustrated to absolutely no end. (I'm sure you all can definitely relate!) But it also pulled at my heart and made me extremely sad. I think after all this time, the Wetterlings deserve to know what happened.

Anyway, please take a look at this article that came out in May. http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/...-revealed-in-jacob-wetterling-abduction-case/ I'm sure most of you have seen it. But while I was waiting for my account to be activated, I was re-reading the article and I found the comment posted a month ago by someone named Mazy VERY interesting. I honestly think this could be a potential break in the case. I had chills just reading that comment. Unfortunately her uncle has died so he couldn't be interviewed but surely DR could be?! I mean, it has to be his farm the commenter is talking about, right? This would also make sense as to why the abductor asked the boys their ages. He needed someone of a certain age.

I'm really sorry if this has been posted already. I skimmed the posts from the past month and I didn't see anything. I will go back and read through the last thread now. But perhaps THIS is why DR is a person of interest. Maybe LE knows he had a guest or suspects it. I honestly think this is a huge lead that needs to be investigated.

My best guess after checking into this comment from Mazy is that the person was referring to the Shurter/Franklin scandal. Not sure however.

 

[thenotebook]

That photo was taken after the casts were made, so it could have been just a print from whomever laid the casts down there in the driveway. That actually looks to me more like the stop and start of the vehicle to me than a footprint though. I'm always baffled why there isn't a matching tire print to this one on the road. We see pretty much of the road in some of these pictures, yet there is just a single tire track showing.

Agreed, very strange. Unless it was a motorcycle? (Thinking of Mazy's comment on WCCO article about her uncle who had a motorcycle)

 

[Sasquatch321]

That photo was taken after the casts were made, so it could have been just a print from whomever laid the casts down there in the driveway. That actually looks to me more like the stop and start of the vehicle to me than a footprint though. I'm always baffled why there isn't a matching tire print to this one on the road. We see pretty much of the road in some of these pictures, yet there is just a single tire track showing.

just to clear up what I mean, I am talking about the cast below the rectangle that appears to show the outline of a footprint, on top of "kevins" tire track-

Click to enlarge-

 

[chaplain1]

Like MF, a predator monster, was in kiwi court dropping off a victim within possibly minutes of the abduction.

Or in logistical terms, possibly 10-20 predatory pedophiles were in unlocked units in the 25 mile radius. Counting locked units, the number would easily go close to 100 with Catholic religious.

 

[pwesterner]

So here's my take on all of it. Part of me thinks there could be a connection between Jacob's abduction and the Paynesville cases, but mostly I believe they are two completely separate cases. Yes, there are certain similarities that are a bit striking. For instance, the victims were roughly in the same age group (although if I remember correctly a couple victims were about 5 years older), some were riding bikes, the perp was wearing a mask and said something along the same lines of "don't look back or I'll shoot."

I know Jacob's abductor asked him, his brother and friend their ages (or who was oldest?) and to me this is a very alarming and important detail. This leads me to believe he was very picky and had an important reason for asking this question. In only one of the Paynesville cases the perp inquired how old his victim was (by asking their grade not age).

It also puzzles me why he would choose a random town almost 30 miles away and choose to abduct his victim when there are two other witnesses. I'm guessing he would not be very familiar with St. Joe's unless he worked or moved there. Abducting a child in a potentially unfamiliar area with multiple witnesses is just a little too bold. Sure, kidnappers and sex offenders get a little more cocky and bold with time after getting away with it for awhile, but this just strikes me as TOO bold and out of character.

Bottom line, I believe Jacob's perp was an extremely methodical person and had a specific type of victim in mind. Maybe Jacob's abduction was planned, maybe it wasn't, but I tend to see it as a crime of opportunity. It was dark out and he saw the parents leave and saw the kids go to the store by themselves and thought it was perfect timing. He just strikes me as more bold and a little less impulsive than the Paynesville perp. Perhaps more intelligent and/or experienced also. Again, very methodical. This is just my take on it so far.