MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #15

[chaplain1]

Jeff would sue somebody here for the fame of solving this case. That would make him more money in the long run and make him one of the greatest attorneys ever. There is no physical evidence in Jacobs case.

 

[human]

Sounds like the resources are there.

Now for the evidence

 

[ThePhantom]

I contacted the Star Trib in response to a series of articles they had written about St. John's. I was hoping to get some kind of additional investigative resources for the Guimind case. Like all of the media and agencies I endeavered to communicate with, the paper was not interested in delving deeper into the devious deeds at St. John's. Thankfully the local Fox News station took up the challenge a few years back. Other than that I haven't seen the case get much coverage.

 

[Jewelia]

The person suing has to agree to the terms of the suit, not the person who is getting sued.

So the suer decides if it is going to be revealed or not.

The suer could sue for money, drop the money part and then reveal the info.

Does that make sense?

If a lawyer screws up, give the Lawyers Professional Responsiblity Board the info

Thanks, that's right, it's the plaintiff in the case that decides. However, many victims of sexual abuse are vulnerable, and manipulated. They may not truly want to have an "out of court settlement", but the attorney may say that they could lose their civil case if they don't. (and that may very well be true) Many times, victims feel a need to expose their abuser, and a cash settlement alone may not give them a sense of closure. They never really have "closure", but they do feel more validated to have their predators exposed for what they are.

(It's expensive to file suits, as full discovery and investigation expenses can get very high.) Civil law suit attorney's get 40% of the settlement, and that's how they make their living, and pay for the expenses incurred for the discovery. I can't imagine an attorney who's willing to use their own expense account to sue, just for exposure. If the plaintiff is within the SOL's to file criminal charges, then they can prosecute the predator, expose them, and anyone who aided and abetted them.

I've been told, however, that filing criminal charges have a far more strict discovery process, and victims can sometimes be victimized again by the judicial system, and it can complicate any civil suit they file at a later date. I'm still learning how this works. The legal system is very, very complicated.

I hope I'm making sense.... :0/

OCS's usually occur when it's a large institution being sued....i.e-----> Public School System, The Catholic Diocese, Boy Scouts, Big Brother....etc. Victims can sue under the name "John Doe", and remain anonymous. However, the attorney for the defendant, and the defendant have a right to know the name of the Plaintiff. I think the public has a right to know who the predator is for their own safety, and they also have a right to expose the institutions that aid and abet them.

In a case we're familiar with, the Ohio Bar Association has been contacted.

Unfortunately, civil attorneys make deals too, and not necessarily in the best interest of the public, or the victim. I think Jeff Anderson has done well to expose a lot of these pedophiles (ABBY) ....right up front.

 

[Jewelia]

I contacted the Star Trib in response to a series of articles they had written about St. John's. I was hoping to get some kind of additional investigative resources for the Guimind case. Like all of the media and agencies I endeavered to communicate with, the paper was not interested in delving deeper into the devious deeds at St. John's. Thankfully the local Fox News station took up the challenge a few years back. Other than that I haven't seen the case get much coverage.

That's a really great thing to do, and I hope the Guidmond family knows there's still a lot of people who care out there. I wonder if thousands of people protesting about these abductions, and about the investigations seeming to never go anywhere, would affect St. Johns Abby, and The Stearns County Sheriff's office? I Truly feel the only way anyone will ever get some action on the Jacob and Josh cases is for a huge public outcry.

That is so sad, and so maddening. I did have a chance to speak with his father...and grandfather. I have not been able to reach them since. The father was so heart sick, and I felt so terrible for him. The grandfather was doing better, but both agree that the case isn't getting enough exposure. I felt so awkward leaving a message.... I won't call again, as I can only imagine how it must feel to have your hope drained so many times.

 

[ThePhantom]

You know I think the victims' families get so emotionally beaten down, and after so much time has gone by just become resigned to living with the chronic pain of heartache. I admire how well the Wetterlings have managed to deal with their suffering all these years. Obviously the loss of Jacob has taken a terrible toll on them, but at least they have remained united in their family and their kids have done well. Cannot say the same for Guimond's, sadly. Josh was their only child. He was everything and when you take everything away, you are left with nothing.

 

[shergal]

Sounds like the resources are there.

Now for the evidence

Sometimes it does take years to get "tangible, physical evidence" together..

Wisconsin LE is finally getting evidence together on this 24 year old Berit Beck cold case.
http://www.fdlreporter.com/story/ne...erit-beck-murder-case-investigation/17053321/

"The evidence was not new. It had been recovered from Beck's van and submitted to the Crime Lab in 1990. When investigators asked the Crime Lab to retest evidence late last year, the fingerprint match with Brantner was made."

 

[Trino]

Just read Joy's latest blog about the older man with a wood panel vehicle. My only comment is if this was a balding, older man, there's a good chance after nearly 26 years that he's no longer with us.

http://www.joybaker.com/2015/03/29/the-party-in-the-woods-part-2/

 

[BethAnn777]

Several years ago there was a man that his co-workers thought might have been Jacob. Of course it wasn't. Anyone know the name of that man or have his pic?

 

[Fukiyama]

Just read Joy's latest blog about the older man with a wood panel vehicle. My only comment is if this was a balding, older man, there's a good chance after nearly 26 years that he's no longer with us.

http://www.joybaker.com/2015/03/29/the-party-in-the-woods-part-2/

I just finished reading The Final Days by Woodward and Bernstein documenting the end of the Nixon presidency, especially the horrible effect the slow dribble of info from the tapes had on his chances of surviving Watergate. Think what you will of Joy and her efforts, but I do have to say that the "drip, drip, drip" effect of her blog is quite something on its own.

 

[ELOCsoul]

Several years ago there was a man that his co-workers thought might have been Jacob. Of course it wasn't. Anyone know the name of that man or have his pic?

Don't know the name, but he was from Warroad, MN. Coworkers noticed a strong resemblance to Jacob's age progression image. The man refused to give his DNA, but authorities were able to identify him through fingerprint records on file in Arizona.

 

[ThePhantom]

Trino, somehow I think he's still around...

 

[Jewelia]

I'm currently reading Eloc's book, and I'm trying to wrap my head around something.

The BCA claimed they had 863 files of missing children in the state of Minnesota in 1989 ("at the time of Jacob's abduction"), and of those 863 files, 97%....the vast majority of them were "runaways". They Claim only 15 children were gone under suspicious circumstances. I think not.

Who believes this?

I was reading that the Jacob Wetterling Foundation was focusing the funding to educate families who may become victims of stranger abductions, and give written guidelines to law enforcement. Doesn't the BCA and FBI know these specific "guidelines", and can't they work with local LE to implement these "guidelines"? And if only a tiny fraction of missing children are actually stranger abductions, then why all the funding focusing on "stranger abductions", and why not more focus on WHY there's so many runaways (97%)? The main objective for the funding is for child abduction prevention. So in essence, the JWF main objective is not equal to what the BCA is saying about missing kids.

Obviously, the BCA is not telling the truth.

Didn't the "foundation" change to a "resource center now". I think this happened in the last few months.

Oh....and, not until after Jacob was kidnapped, did local officials and residents realize the huge amount of convicted sex offenders in the area. Tougher sex offender legislation was very needed....obviously. Dare I say: so it took Jacob's abduction for local LE to admit the vast number of cockroaches that were hunting down their "children". I think they knew this before Jacob was taken.

 

[ELOCsoul]

I'm currently reading Eloc's book, and I'm trying to wrap my head around something.

The BCA claimed they had 863 files of missing children in the state of Minnesota in 1989 ("at the time of Jacob's abduction"), and of those 863 files, 97%....the vast majority of them were "runaways". They Claim only 15 children were gone under suspicious circumstances. I think not.

Who believes this?

I was reading that the Jacob Wetterling Foundation was focusing the funding to educate families who may become victims of stranger abductions, and give written guidelines to law enforcement. Doesn't the BCA and FBI know these specific "guidelines", and can't they work with local LE to implement these "guidelines"? And if only a tiny fraction of missing children are actually stranger abductions, then why all the funding focusing on "stranger abductions", and why not more focus on WHY there's so many runaways (97%)? The main objective for the funding is for child abduction prevention. So in essence, the JWF main objective is not equal to what the BCA is saying about missing kids.

Obviously, the BCA is not telling the truth.

Didn't the "foundation" change to a "resource center now". I think this happened in the last few months.

One of the early struggles of the Wetterling Foundation was to get law enforcement and the government in general, to recognize the vast difference between stranger abductions and family-related abductions. It was really interesting reading all those old articles, many, many of which were in the St. Joseph Newsleader.

 

[Trino]

Several years ago there was a man that his co-workers thought might have been Jacob. Of course it wasn't. Anyone know the name of that man or have his pic?

I believe this was kept under wraps to preserve his privacy. An investigation proved he was not JW.

 

[Trino]

Trino, somehow I think he's still around...

Why do you think this?

 

[Jewelia]

One of the early struggles of the Wetterling Foundation was to get law enforcement and the government in general, to recognize the vast difference between stranger abductions and family-related abductions. It was really interesting reading all those old articles, many, many of which were in the St. Joseph Newsleader.

It is interesting, and I went back to a lot of old youtube vidoes, which were also interesting. I just think LE knew much more than what they were saying about "stranger abductions". Another problem: What do we call coaches, teachers, priests, Big Brothers, Boy Scout Leaders, and Karate Instructors, who abduct children? It can turn out to be someone the family knows; someone who interacts with their child. It could be a doctor, dentist, chiropractor, or a babysitter. All of the above have stalked children, and abducted them.

I'm sure you know this, but this is a HUGE problem, and this is also where education is very, very needed. They need to find a way to educate parents about the, "not so much a stranger...danger". Everyone knows about priests, because there's lots of press coverage, and more recently the Boy Scouts. Now it's public school teachers who are starting to come out of the cracks.

I call of these predators cockroaches. Just like cockroaches, they hide their molestation and criminal behavior, and as soon as the light is turned on, they disappear into the cracks. I believe a malfunctioning justice system helps keep them in the cracks. I think more and more of this is going to happen, and maybe funding should go toward getting better oversight, and weeding out the bad apples in law enforcement---------> Starting with Stearns County.

 

[cGorg]

Whatever IT is....IT is particularly EVIL.

 

[Trackergd]

The elephant in the room is that there is an ingrained culture of child abuse and molestation in St Joseph, it runs deep, it has been allowed to flourish for many years and there are powerful individuals and organizations who want to keep it quiet. I suspect there are careers, legacies and reputations at stake, much the same as there were in the Sandusky case.

 

[Sasquatch321]

DR has been right about one thing, LE has given the public the perception that he killed Jacob. In 2010 they named him a POI, and to add insult to injury, said they are still testing some of the items found in the third search. And they still are. The honest answer for his POI label and those items for testing still have no answer. The gamechanger was when Kevin came forward. And I would putmy lifes savings on it.