MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #2

[human]

In researching this case further this morning, I came across a site wherein a poster states that a white sweat sock was found on October 28, 1989 (six days post abduction). The sock was found apparently about 100 yards from the abduction site, but the dogs couldn't track it any further. Its unclear to me whether to sock was prooven to belong to Jacob (but wouldn't it be interesting if this WAS prooven via DNA from inside the sock!!).

The site is:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.true-crime/browse_thread/thread/cb67cf9b3767b1f5/b150b131c2bcc05f

Also, on that site, I found the name of the neighbor who was babysitting (Rochelle Jerzak), and noted that her father made the 911 call initially. I'm reading an outline of the 911 call just now....

I remember the sock now. I wonder how the sock got there, or was it dropped on purpose?

 

[margaret_diane]

I remember the sock now. I wonder how the sock got there, or was it dropped on purpose?

I was wondering about this sock all day as well! Wondering specifically (IF that sock belonged to Jacob) -- then what the hell was going on at the time that he:

a) had time to get his shoe and sock off?
b) where is the shoe (might he have put taken it off, got the sock off, dropped it and slipped a shoe back on to leave a clue for searchers?!)
c) why was the sock off, and found where it was if it belonged to Jacob?

Anyone know IF the sock was prooven to belong to Jacob by chance?

And a BIG question --> why was this item NOT FOUND UNTIL 6 DAYS AFTER THE ABDUCTION!?
If there were people out searching from the time of the abduction, and it was so close to the abduction site, why wasn't it found until days later?! If it was indeed Jacob's -- then this makes me think that maybe this was not something he dropped / left behind at the time of the abduction, but possibly afterwards? Could he have been taken to a second location following the abduction (days later?) somehow? Drugged into silence? Appearance changed? Threatened into behaving as if he was someone else, and all was well? Could this have been dropped by his attacker (and if so, why and under what circumstances!?).

Need more info on this sock!! Sometimes I wish I had all the info that LE has in these types of cases, because with ALL of us working on it -- I bet we could come up with tons of ideas of things perhaps they haven't thought of, or tried yet!

 

[hoppyfrog]

Here's a comment I found on another site talking about this case, although I don't usually post other people's stuff I still find it interesting enough to do so.

"I know people close to the Stearns County Attorney's office. The identity of the abductor has been an open secret in that office for years. Anyone with anything to do with that case have been, for years, waiting for that one piece of evidence to finally surface which would give them probable cause to raid that mother *advertiser censored****. Looks like they may finally have it."

Link to the original:http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3322965&pagenumber=2

Just keep in mind that it could be anyone who posted that. FWIW, it was not a recent post; it was made in 2004.

 

[shergal]

Kind of not serious here, but I was searching thru famous alumni of St. John's and if I was writing a book about Jacob/Jared/Josh cases... I think I'd pick one of these guys who no one would suspect,
http://www.sjualum.com/notable/Pages/arts.aspx

and have the bodies disposed of in the kiln, or by the famous mystery author, etc.

But since I'm no writer, and the only POI named is DR, back to researching. ;-) (sorry, I'm getting burned out I think with all the cases with young boys whose names start with "J.")

 

[shergal]

Ok, trying to redeem myself here after my frivolous post... Jacob was wearing white socks when abducted:
"Clothing/Jewelry Description: A red St. Cloud Hockey jacket with a large St. Cloud Police Department emblem embroidered on the back, an orange reflective jogging vest, a red t-shirt, a blue mesh jersey, blue sweatpants, white socks and white Nike high-top running shoes with a gray stripe."
from:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=81108442889

 

[concentric]

I think you are redeemed already, shergal.

This case has bothered me for years, like it has so many of you. It is so bizarre and disturbing. I'm even getting to the point of thinking with the isolation of that farm and the surrounding fields, that a small plane could have been hidden there. Do you think that's possible? St. Cloud airport is not that far away. Did small planes often fly overhead? So now, that's really out there in terms of theories. However, I think someone hiding in the weeds, with all black on, a black stocking over his head, with a gun jumping out, grabbing a child, is pretty bizarre. Even the boys thought it was some wild prank. Over the years, we find out what happened to other missing children, like in the Jaycee Dugard case, and we begin to understand that there are some odd scenarios that are stranger than fiction.

Was he put into a box and loaded onto a plane? Anything could have happened, I suppose. They had over 40,000 leads, right? One, that he was in Amsterdam. Even that wouldn't surprise me. I know, the simplest explanation, Occam's Razor and all that...

I guess we will learn more after they release the findings of the evidence taken.

 

[Trino]

I think you are redeemed already, shergal.

This case has bothered me for years, like it has so many of you. It is so bizarre and disturbing. I'm even getting to the point of thinking with the isolation of that farm and the surrounding fields, that a small plane could have been hidden there. Do you think that's possible? St. Cloud airport is not that far away. Did small planes often fly overhead? So now, that's really out there in terms of theories. However, I think someone hiding in the weeds, with all black on, a black stocking over his head, with a gun jumping out, grabbing a child, is pretty bizarre. Even the boys thought it was some wild prank. Over the years, we find out what happened to other missing children, like in the Jaycee Dugard case, and we begin to understand that there are some odd scenarios that are stranger than fiction.

Was he put into a box and loaded onto a plane? Anything could have happened, I suppose. They had over 40,000 leads, right? One, that he was in Amsterdam. Even that wouldn't surprise me. I know, the simplest explanation, Occam's Razor and all that...

I guess we will learn more after they release the findings of the evidence taken.

Anything is possible, but I'm sure LE has investigated small planes leaving the St. Cloud Airport. I don't think, however, that a small plane could have been hidden on farm property. Farmers are pretty astute around there.

 

[shergal]

And you have to believe DR would have mentioned hearing or seeing a plane take off while he was sleeping ;-) since he supposedly heard or saw a car turn around in his driveway.

 

[margaret_diane]

And you have to believe DR would have mentioned hearing or seeing a plane take off while he was sleeping ;-) since he supposedly heard or saw a car turn around in his driveway.

DR claims he heard a car / saw it turn around IN HIS DRIVEWAY, all while he was sleeping -- he must be pretty talented then, especially since the end of the driveway isn't visible from inside the house. :waitasec:

 

[Lotus]

Just keep in mind that it could be anyone who posted that. FWIW, it was not a recent post; it was made in 2004.

No, 2004 was the sign up date for that person, the comment was made on: Jul 02, 2010 01:19

"I know people close to the Stearns County Attorney's office. The identity of the abductor has been an open secret in that office for years. Anyone with anything to do with that case have been, for years, waiting for that one piece of evidence to finally surface which would give them probable cause to raid that mother *advertiser censored****. Looks like they may finally have it."

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3322965&pagenumber=2

I realize it could be anyone posting it. Circumstantially I think a lot points to DR as the perp anyway (JMO).

 

[Lotus]

Here's some pics of what Jacob was wearing that night.


Wetterling was last seen wearing a a red St. Cloud Hockey jacket with a large St. Cloud Police Department emblem embroidered on the back, an orange reflective jogging vest, a red t-shirt, a blue mesh jersey, blue sweatpants, white socks and white Nike high-top running shoes with a gray stripe



And here's a pic of the blue mesh jersey he was wearing.



The white sock found 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.

I don't know if it was Jacobs or not.

 

[Trino]

I'm not defending DR, but let's think outside the box.

Suppose a body is found on the property where you live. Does it mean you killed the person? Suppose evidence is found on the property where you live. Again, does it mean you are a murderer?

IMO it's a long way to go before DR is cuffed. It's an even longer route to prove he is a murderer to a jury.

 

[human]

I'm not defending DR, but let's think outside the box.

Suppose a body is found on the property where you live. Does it mean you killed the person? Suppose evidence is found on the property where you live. Again, does it mean you are a murderer?

IMO it's a long way to go before DR is cuffed. It's an even longer route to prove he is a murderer to a jury.

He's been named a POI. LE has spent a ton of money digging up the property and I imagine sifting through dump loads of dirt isn't cheap either.

They also said that they have taken items to analyze.

I had no doubt in my mind when I read about Casey Anthony in the paper that she had done something with her child. I never followed the case because it's such a no brainer.

But even that seems to have taken a long time to get on the road to justice and is taking a long time.

So I truly hope LE gets what they need in this case, whatever that may be.

 

[KeyboardCat]

I was wondering about this sock all day as well! Wondering specifically (IF that sock belonged to Jacob) -- then what the hell was going on at the time that he:

a) had time to get his shoe and sock off?
b) where is the shoe (might he have put taken it off, got the sock off, dropped it and slipped a shoe back on to leave a clue for searchers?!)
c) why was the sock off, and found where it was if it belonged to Jacob?

Anyone know IF the sock was prooven to belong to Jacob by chance?

And a BIG question --> why was this item NOT FOUND UNTIL 6 DAYS AFTER THE ABDUCTION!?
If there were people out searching from the time of the abduction, and it was so close to the abduction site, why wasn't it found until days later?! If it was indeed Jacob's -- then this makes me think that maybe this was not something he dropped / left behind at the time of the abduction, but possibly afterwards? Could he have been taken to a second location following the abduction (days later?) somehow? Drugged into silence? Appearance changed? Threatened into behaving as if he was someone else, and all was well? Could this have been dropped by his attacker (and if so, why and under what circumstances!?).

Need more info on this sock!! Sometimes I wish I had all the info that LE has in these types of cases, because with ALL of us working on it -- I bet we could come up with tons of ideas of things perhaps they haven't thought of, or tried yet!

If that sock was his, the only thing that makes sense to me would be that he was able to get away and run shortly after he was grabbed..
The man was able to run fast and catch him and wrestle Jacob to the ground. And Jacob was grabbed by the ankle while he was able to almost slip away. He wriggles free of the man's grasp by the ankle, but because of the grip the man has on him, he loses his sock and shoe in the process.

 

[human]

I was thinking about the search warrant. Now I am sure LE would love to say that they just want to go to the farm and dig around and look around, But they can't.

They have to give specific reasons and pretty specific things that they are looking for.

I wonder if they went in the house as well this time?

I wonder what they said they were looking for?

 

[shergal]

Whatever they told the judge they were looking for, it was enough to convince her to seal the warrant to protect the investigation - so that the family (or anyone else) wouldn't know exactly what they were searching for.

I'm kind of amazed that after 20 years they found "items" and not just dirt and ash to sift through.

And Trino, when you live out in the country in the middle of nowhere and you were the only one home, if a body or evidence is found on your land, it might just be a clue. Granted, innocent until proven guilty. But I have to believe for them to even name him publicly as a POI in the case they have some fairly strong evidence already. Otherwise they'd have a lawsuit on their hands.

 

[Trino]

I am very, very familiar with country living.

The farm has been searched 3 times before this. DR has been questioned several times. He's been hypnotized. He's given a DNA and has taken a lie detector test (passed?)

There has been no new evidence, only ideas by two new detectives on the case. No one knows what the search warrant stated. The sheriff said POI, yet has not elaborated nor made another statement about DR being a POI. DR has not been recently questioned.

I'm not convinced DR is the culprit, although I'm not convinced he's not either. I'm just weighing what's out there.

 

[shergal]

I am very, very familiar with country living.

The farm has been searched 3 times before this. DR has been questioned several times. He's been hypnotized. He's given a DNA and has taken a lie detector test (passed?)

There has been no new evidence, only ideas by two new detectives on the case. No one knows what the search warrant stated. The sheriff said POI, yet has not elaborated nor made another statement about DR being a POI. DR has not been recently questioned.

I'm not convinced DR is the culprit, although I'm not convinced he's not either. I'm just weighing what's out there.

You could be right... here's something else that's out there. An update today on this website including a mention of Fr. Tom and Jacob: http://www.behindthepinecurtain.com/wordpress/?p=1658#more-1658

 

[Varvaros]

Yes, and it would seem that DR would have not needed to ask the boys their ages. Trino, given your experience with country living, do you think DR, given his proximity to the Wetterlings, would have already known the boys' ages and names? The perp asking their ages has always mystified me.

And whenever I read about those monks, I feel like a need to take a shower... And I get mighty angry!

 

[margaret_diane]

If that sock was his, the only thing that makes sense to me would be that he was able to get away and run shortly after he was grabbed..
The man was able to run fast and catch him and wrestle Jacob to the ground. And Jacob was grabbed by the ankle while he was able to almost slip away. He wriggles free of the man's grasp by the ankle, but because of the grip the man has on him, he loses his sock and shoe in the process.

- Jacob bolts, and is caught, and looses a sock and shoe in the process to the predatory man with the gun -- great -- where is the shoe then? Why would only the sock be found? The man would have surely noticed that he pulled the kids sock and shoe off -- so he what, grabs the shoe, but leaves the sock?

- Is it possible a shoe was found and never publicized?

- As I recall, the dogs lost the scent because of the dry weather -- so presumably if Jacob was now barefoot (even on one foot), we wouldn't necessarily see indentations / prints / uneven foot prints left behind by him right?

- I'd still like to understand if this sock was determined to belong to jacob via DNA analysis, and if so, how it was not located for so many days post abduction?!