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

[FBI Surveillance Van]

Rassier has said that from the beginning of the investiga-tion he had told detectives repeatedly about the two cars, despite that only one of the cars had been reported on. Investigators appealed to the public to help identify the drivers of a handful of suspicious cars that witnesses had seen near the abduction scene, or within a few blocks of there. If indeed Rassier actually in-formed investigators about the cars he saw on October 22, 1989, from the very beginning, it's unusual that law enforcement officials made no pleas asking the public to help identify those particular cars. Investigators had made it a point to publicize the need to identify other cars, so if Rassier’s story is true, why didn’t they make a plea to identify the car Dan Rassier said he saw at about the time of the abduction? Why didn't they make a plea to identify the car that Rassier said he saw driving through his yard in the middle of the afternoon?[/I] pg 265

Excellent point. Assuming that DR is telling the truth, then LE may have known early on who the driver of that vehicle was. Someone could have communicated internally to LE who the driver of the car (~Monte Carlo) in DR's driveway was that afternoon. Perhaps this person was also associated somehow with the police explorer/boy scouts camping in that spot the day/night before. No need for LE to ask the public for help identifying this particular vehicle - if LE already knew.

 

[FBI Surveillance Van]

Yep, beginning on Monday October 23rd....again from the book...

Sheriff Grafft recounted the efforts of his deputy staff. Grafft had called in a State Patrol helicopter to search the area. He said he boarded the chopper himself for the air search that began at about 10:30 P.M. The actual time of the helicopter search is an issue of debate, however, given that the nearest State Patrol helicopter was stationed 60 miles away in Brainerd, it’s probable that the helicopter search would not have started until later that night, most likely after about 11:00P.M. By midnight, the helicopter was searching the area around a residential area up to ½ mile north of the abduction site.

The searchlight-equipped chopper hovered back and forth several times across the immediate area surrounding the crime site. The crew on board the helicopter carefully surveyed the area, scouring the woods and open fields for any sign of Jacob. They carefully combed over the area around the site of the abduction. At one point, the chopper was hovering so low that it nearly came into contact with utility wires near the abduction scene. A total of thirty-five deputies and police officers searched the surrounding area well into that first night, ultimately suspending the search at 3:00 A.M.

The large numbers of law enforcement officials that had been dispatched to search for Jacob were based at the Del-Win Ballroom. It served as a temporary command center for coordinating the search effort. By Monday, there were four helicopters, at least six all-terrain vehicles, and a bloodhound dog involved in the search.

On Monday morning October 23, 1989, sheriff's deputies canvassed the neighborhood, interviewing everyone in the area in a door-to-door search for information that could help locate Jacob. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officers used all-terrain vehicles to search the area as well. Search teams of law enforcement officials and volunteers covered a twenty-five square mile area around the abduction site. Despite their thorough efforts, no signs of Jacob or his abductor were discovered. pg. 98

No doubt that LE had ATV all over the scene, but I believe that Tracker had eliminated (after a fair amount of effort) LE ATV as the source of one particularly unusual tire print. That print seemed to have as the closest match, been made by some kind of ~golf cart. I was wondering if he had considered tires typically used on the Honda Odyssey as being a possible for that print.

 

[cGorg]

Excellent point. Assuming that DR is telling the truth, then LE may have known early on who the driver of that vehicle was. Someone could have communicated internally to LE who the driver of the car (~Monte Carlo) in DR's driveway was that afternoon. Perhaps this person was also associated somehow with the police explorer/boy scouts camping in that spot the day/night before. No need for LE to ask the public for help identifying this particular vehicle - if LE already knew.

Good point....but....as happens in this case, things can be interpreted two ways. LE couldn't identify Kevin's tracks in 14 years....seems unlikely the afternoon Monte Carlo would be identified but not Kevin's girlfriend's car. But...maybe with a tip it's possible....it still leaves the most important car in question: the small, dark car with lights close together. If the 2 cars are connected(the abductor's cars)....then the tip for the afternoon car would I assume lead to the small, dark car. JMO.

 

[cGorg]

View attachment 73970

View attachment 73971

Running shoes....Likely left by someone who went for a run in the afternoon

I agree that footprint was very plausibly created by DR's running shoe.

 

[Sasquatch321]

Why debate back and forth as to when DR was named a POI? As suggested by several posters, he was likely a POI privately long before naming him publicly. Also, LE has said several times that they had several suspects in Jacob's case. DR is not the only POI on LE's radar. A couple of excerpts from the book:

On Monday, October 23, 1989, a bloodhound tracked Jacob's scent from the road up the Rassier's unpaved driveway for about forty yards. It was at that spot where Jacob's last footprints were found in the dirt, with a fresh set of car tire tracks alongside. Detectives interpreted the last footprints as evidence of resistance from Jacob. A Nike shoe, similar in style and size to the shoes he was wearing, was used to help identify the prints as Jacob's. The bloodhound did not indicate Jacob’s scent beyond that point. Detective Steve Mund made plaster casts of several footprints and tire tracks found in the driveway.

Investigators took casts of tire tracks found near the kid-napping scene but they did not communicate a high level of certainty that the tracks were those of the kidnapper. BCA director, Mark Shields said he was “not confident” that the kidnapper made the tracks, noting they were considered as possible evi-dence at that point. pg 101



In October 1995, Sheriff Kostreba noted that there were four top suspects in Jacob's kidnapping. He said that two of the suspects were from central Minnesota and neither of them were the stereotypical pedophile. The other two suspects were not from the area but were pedophiles. Aside from those top suspects, Kostreba added that there were another half-dozen possible suspects that investigators had been unable to rule out. pg 160


Rassier has said that from the beginning of the investiga-tion he had told detectives repeatedly about the two cars, despite that only one of the cars had been reported on. Investigators appealed to the public to help identify the drivers of a handful of suspicious cars that witnesses had seen near the abduction scene, or within a few blocks of there. If indeed Rassier actually in-formed investigators about the cars he saw on October 22, 1989, from the very beginning, it's unusual that law enforcement officials made no pleas asking the public to help identify those particular cars. Investigators had made it a point to publicize the need to identify other cars, so if Rassier’s story is true, why didn’t they make a plea to identify the car Dan Rassier said he saw at about the time of the abduction? Why didn't they make a plea to identify the car that Rassier said he saw driving through his yard in the middle of the afternoon?[/I] pg 265

"Rassier has said that from the beginning of the investiga-tion he had told detectives repeatedly about the two cars, despite that only one of the cars had been reported on. Investigators appealed to the public to help identify the drivers of a handful of suspicious cars that witnesses had seen near the abduction scene, or within a few blocks of there. If indeed Rassier actually in-formed investigators about the cars he saw on October 22, 1989, from the very beginning, it's unusual that law enforcement officials made no pleas asking the public to help identify those particular cars. Investigators had made it a point to publicize the need to identify other cars, so if Rassier’s story is true, why didn’t they make a plea to identify the car Dan Rassier said he saw at about the time of the abduction? Why didn't they make a plea to identify the car that Rassier said he saw driving through his yard in the middle of the afternoon?"

Because he became a suspect as soon as two investigators learned he had an eyewitness account of two vehicles, but waited for them to come to him to tell them about it. We don't have the transcript from that interview with him at the school the next day, we weren't there in the interview to capture feelings. I bet it didn't seem exactly right. A few days later they turned the arrow and searched his house. Despite finding an ending footprint next to a tire track.

 

[cGorg]

The closest building was right around 640'.

View attachment 73951


DR's driveway is right about a quarter mile.

View attachment 73952

Quarter mile is a long way to carry a 12 year old who I presume would be fighting back a little I would hope.

With heaving breathing from the adrenaline and running combined with the rustle of running through the field, that would drowned out the sound of a vehicle sooner than most would think. There was no such thing as "autolights" in vehicles back then. Drivers discretion on when those came on. Anyone want to do an experiment in that same field to get the answer???

That's an interesting graphic depicting the distances-especially considering Jacob's last footprint was only 40 yards into the Rassier driveway. It does put it into context. I've always been perplexed that Jacob disappeared at this particular location on the driveway.....footprints....then nothing. IMO, something traumatic happened here: either he was forced into a vehicle or incapacitated in some manner.

 

[FBI Surveillance Van]

I agree that footprint was very plausibly created by DR's running shoe.

His run would have him going down the driveway towards his house (after collecting the paper at the mailbox). Which direction is this print going?

 

[tinner007]

Yep, beginning on Monday October 23rd....again from the book...

Sheriff Grafft recounted the efforts of his deputy staff. Grafft had called in a State Patrol helicopter to search the area. He said he boarded the chopper himself for the air search that began at about 10:30 P.M. The actual time of the helicopter search is an issue of debate, however, given that the nearest State Patrol helicopter was stationed 60 miles away in Brainerd, it’s probable that the helicopter search would not have started until later that night, most likely after about 11:00P.M. By midnight, the helicopter was searching the area around a residential area up to ½ mile north of the abduction site.

This I can personally confirm as the search light woke me up at midnight. My house is the red circle

 

[tinner007]

They aren't 9eee?

I'm not a professional in the field of prints. I can't tell. They look fairly wide to me. There's people here who can answer that question better than me, as I would be guessing.

 

[cGorg]

His run would have him going down the driveway towards his house (after collecting the paper at the mailbox). Which direction is this print going?

East.

 

[tinner007]

Excellent point. Assuming that DR is telling the truth, then LE may have known early on who the driver of that vehicle was. Someone could have communicated internally to LE who the driver of the car (~Monte Carlo) in DR's driveway was that afternoon. Perhaps this person was also associated somehow with the police explorer/boy scouts camping in that spot the day/night before. No need for LE to ask the public for help identifying this particular vehicle - if LE already knew.

It took them just about a month to ask for help identifying the vehicle seen leaving the scene by an eyewitness after the Officer Decker murder. There should have been an APB or whatever you wanna call it, because with 5 ways in and out of Cold Spring, I can assure you that more than one responding officer passed that van on his way to the scene...and that's already been confirmed.

 

[tinner007]

East.

You are correct

 

[tinner007]

Questions on those prints. In this photo from Shergal's contribution. You can see the same print in yellow bottom right. It looks to me like a concentration of those prints as though someone may have stopped at that spot and had a conversation, looking around, moving something, IDK, it just looks like multiple prints in a small area. Area marked by blue looks like half of the same print possibly. Toe of the shoe, possibly stepping up into a vehicle. The the top right marked in orange, information suggested by that would question whether a vehicle was the last thing to leave prints being the print is into the last/top vehicle track. Does anyone have any thought towards these possibilities, I could be completely wrong? Experts, chime in please....

 

[Sasquatch321]

Questions on those prints. In this photo from Shergal's contribution. You can see the same print in yellow bottom right. It looks to me like a concentration of those prints as though someone may have stopped at that spot and had a conversation, looking around, moving something, IDK, it just looks like multiple prints in a small area. Area marked by blue looks like half of the same print possibly. Toe of the shoe, possibly stepping up into a vehicle. The the top right marked in orange, information suggested by that would question whether a vehicle was the last thing to leave prints being the print is into the last/top vehicle track. Does anyone have any thought towards these possibilities, I could be completely wrong? Experts, chime in please....

View attachment 73980

what you need is a roundtable of actual scientists and all photos and information in front of them. Guess what, LE has done this. and with this picture already on hand, publically changed their main theory to someone on foot.

 

[cGorg]

Yep, beginning on Monday October 23rd....again from the book...

Sheriff Grafft recounted the efforts of his deputy staff. Grafft had called in a State Patrol helicopter to search the area. He said he boarded the chopper himself for the air search that began at about 10:30 P.M. The actual time of the helicopter search is an issue of debate, however, given that the nearest State Patrol helicopter was stationed 60 miles away in Brainerd, it’s probable that the helicopter search would not have started until later that night, most likely after about 11:00P.M. By midnight, the helicopter was searching the area around a residential area up to ½ mile north of the abduction site.

This I can personally confirm as the search light woke me up at midnight. My house is the red circle

View attachment 73975

Wow! You lived very close to the TT. Do you know anything regarding the witness that stated he saw the B brothers at the abduction site? Apparently he saw the boys COMING and GOING from the TT(and prior to that, seeing the B brothers in the ditch near the abduction site).....and it seems his only vantage point for that would be somewhere West + South of your residence.

 

[FBI Surveillance Van]

East.

If that is true (shoe print heading East), then what side of the driveway, north or south, must the photographer have been standing when that pic of the shoe print was taken?

 

[FBI Surveillance Van]

Questions on those prints. In this photo from Shergal's contribution. You can see the same print in yellow bottom right. It looks to me like a concentration of those prints as though someone may have stopped at that spot and had a conversation, looking around, moving something, IDK, it just looks like multiple prints in a small area. Area marked by blue looks like half of the same print possibly. Toe of the shoe, possibly stepping up into a vehicle. The the top right marked in orange, information suggested by that would question whether a vehicle was the last thing to leave prints being the print is into the last/top vehicle track. Does anyone have any thought towards these possibilities, I could be completely wrong? Experts, chime in please....

View attachment 73980

Count the total # of horizontal tread lines for the prints in this photo (can you figure out how many per shoe?), and compare with the earlier pic ~Nike running shoes. Are the # of treads the same?

 

[Trackergd]

Anything is "possible". Correct me if I am mistaken, but I thought Tracker stated that it was highly unlikely that the perp would stage the scene by planting footprints. Way too difficult, time-consuming, and probably be even more incriminating.

You are correct. An abductor that was very versed in forensics might be able to plant one or two prints, but not be able or have the time to reconstruct an entire print field or "adjust" an entire print field to manipulate the investigation.

 

[Trackergd]

Is it possible to get an accurate measurement of a print through a picture with no indicators of measure? I honestly don't have a clue. Is there a way to measure it without assuming? Can you post a pic of the print you are going by and do you have a style of shoe in mind that left the print?

So here is where I go out on a limb... I have no idea who made that print with the wavy pattern. Without good size references near by, it's a bit of a guess as to size. I have these yellow and black measurement squares I place next to prints when I photograph them. So from what I see in the pictures, it is a wide print. Length is hard to determine but it looks like about a size 10. I think most of you have seen one of those blue nylon boots people with foot injuries wear. Many of them have a white rubber sole on the bottom with a wavy pattern on them. It sort of reminds me of one of those boots. It is NOT a military or police boot pattern. The print is not facing the same direction as Jacobs last print. It could be argued that the individual with these shoes had Jacob under his left arm and set him down for a second to get a better grip. In this scenario the abductor would have had the firearm in his right hand. Now what I find to be curious is that the abduction occurred near the main road, yet Jacobs last print is a fair way up DR's driveway. Why? The abductor could have taken Jacob to a waiting vehicle, veered off across the grass and into the woods. If those odd prints continued down the driveway towards the farm, we could determine from the depth of the prints if that individual was carrying "something" under his left arm due to the left print being deeper and more compacted than the right.

 

[Trackergd]

Waiting to see if Tracker is able to confirm or deny the possibility of 9EEE shoeprints in ANY of the crime scene pics he has examined.

Looks like a very wide size 10 with no arch and a wavy pattern. It is an unusual sole style.