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

[Trackergd]

Neat map. But I believe the red line is twice as long as it should be, and therefore the footprints/parked car would need to be located.

The black circle where it currently sits on the map would prevent the car from being seen from the farm house or by a car traveling on 16th ave as it would be out of the range of headlights. It would be a calculated risk that no one in DR's home would be arriving or leaving during the abduction and spot the car.

Another thought, perhaps the "abduction car" backed up the driveway, parked, then pulled out after the abduction. There would be no need to turn around and no headlights to alert anyone at DR's farm that a car was in the driveway. Again, no good view of the print field to verify this theory.

 

[shergal]

Does anyone know when the Rassiers quit milking cows?

Not sure, but it would have been before 1989. Some historical info on the farm in link below:

https://www.edockets.state.mn.us/EF...AE-29C725ECD5BB}&documentTitle=20111-58107-01

 

[bucshunter]

So, the trace blood from DR'S barn can't be Jacobs or there would be an arrest, arraignmebt, trial. I think that would be enough for a conviction along with circumstantial evidence. do you generous folk agree?

Of course it would. They don't have anything solid on DR or he'd be in jail.

 

[ThePhantom]

What do you make of LE's statement along the lines that they were saving certain things they found for future advancements in technology?

 

[ThePhantom]

You'd have to be a really bold person to abduct a boy in front of his brother and friend, right in front of your own house, and fully believe you will be able to efficiently dispose of your victim while successfully pulling the wool over the eyes of FBI, BCA and LE. Phenomenal luck, methodically planned or the investigators were just no match for the inner workings of this perp's mind.

 

[human]

So, the trace blood from DR'S barn can't be Jacobs or there would be an arrest, arraignmebt, trial. I think that would be enough for a conviction along with circumstantial evidence. do you generous folk agree?

No. They are keeping it for advances in techology. Must be issues with it

 

[human]

The black circle where it currently sits on the map would prevent the car from being seen from the farm house or by a car traveling on 16th ave as it would be out of the range of headlights. It would be a calculated risk that no one in DR's home would be arriving or leaving during the abduction and spot the car.

Another thought, perhaps the "abduction car" backed up the driveway, parked, then pulled out after the abduction. There would be no need to turn around and no headlights to alert anyone at DR's farm that a car was in the driveway. Again, no good view of the print field to verify this theory.

Backing up in the pitch black is haaard!

 

[Sasquatch321]

No. They are keeping it for advances in techology. Must be issues with it

Issues of finding it 21 years later, and not in the first or second search.

 

[ThePhantom]

Sasquatch, why didn't they start that search much sooner?

 

[ThePhantom]

"It seems as if the entire state has taken Jacob to heart and made up its mind to bring him home. At the behest of Gov. Rudy Perpich, the National Guard, abetted by state and local investigators, has conducted the largest ground search in Minnesota history." People Magazine, Nov. 1989

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It might still be prudent to consider the idea that Jacob was taken from the immediately vicinity. If the man who took him drove to one of the many lakes or forests in MN, he may never be found. Ugh.

 

[ThePhantom]

Oct. 23, 1989: The search resumes at 8 a.m. Department of Natural Resources officers use all-terrain vehicles to search a two-mile radius around the abduction site. Helicopters fly over a 25-square-mile area. A Minneapolis bloodhound leads officers to tire tracks, prompting officers to believe the kidnapper had a car nearby.

Oct. 28, 1989: About 240 Guard members, volunteers and officers scour several square miles around the abduction site while three helicopters conduct an air search. A white sweat sock is found about 100 yards from the site, but a Minneapolis bloodhound can’t track its scent farther than a nearby road.

(from the St. Cloud Times, July 1, 2010).

 

[ThePhantom]

Nov. 9, 1989: An unauthorized sketch of a former suspect circulates. The sketch was removed from circulation in a few days. Authorities have received more than 12,000 tips.

 

[ThePhantom]

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.

 

[jg33717]

Oct. 23, 1989: The search resumes at 8 a.m. Department of Natural Resources officers use all-terrain vehicles to search a two-mile radius around the abduction site. Helicopters fly over a 25-square-mile area. A Minneapolis bloodhound leads officers to tire tracks, prompting officers to believe the kidnapper had a car nearby.

Oct. 28, 1989: About 240 Guard members, volunteers and officers scour several square miles around the abduction site while three helicopters conduct an air search. A white sweat sock is found about 100 yards from the site, but a Minneapolis bloodhound can’t track its scent farther than a nearby road.

(from the St. Cloud Times, July 1, 2010).

Has this sock been tested for DNA?

 

[ThePhantom]

Very good question, JG. Anyone here know the answer?

 

[aliensporebomb]

Wow!! Never thought of the no adult present angle!!!!

Think about this though: That video is somewhat of an an oversimplification of what occurred - Jacob's parents were at a dinner party I believe.

So, he called his parents at this party.
Did the kids call the parents on a cordless phone?

What was in the car of Jared's kidnapper? A police scanner.

Programmable police scanners can typically receive everything from cordless phones to baby monitors to aircraft to police and military traffic to paging services - you just search the bands you want to listen to and it latches onto the first clear signal.

How did the perp know they were alone?

Because it sure seems to be that he may have overheard a cordless phone call on a portable police scanner clueing him into it.

Just a thought.

 

[aliensporebomb]

"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 ...

Very peculiar to say the least. Would be interesting to know information about the former owners of that property.

 

[shergal]

"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 found a pic of this location (from zillow) back in Sept. 2014 when we were discussing it on here. It was for sale then. Looks like it sold, because it's no longer for sale. Kerrick is near Willow River, MN.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5368-2ND-Ave-Kerrick-MN-55756/91498402_zpid/

 

[Ifollowthis]

"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."

-------------------------------------------------------

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 ...

So this search would also coincide with the timing of Kevin coming forward...........within about 6 months......

 

[Dave K]

So this search would also coincide with the timing of Kevin coming forward...........within about 6 months......

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.