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

[concentric]

I was thinking this a.m. that Jacob could have been knocked out with a rag of Ether or something? Then I went to one of the videos and there was a comment made by someone suggesting the same thing. Seems obvious, it could have been done easily.

A rag dropped, or bottle?

 

[human]

Any thoughts that an ATV could have been hidden near that second telephone pole? There are other means of transport that could get through fields, etc.

How popular were ATV's back then? IDK

But again, there would be tracks.

 

[human]

Any thoughts that an ATV could have been hidden near that second telephone pole? There are other means of transport that could get through fields, etc.

where would the ATV go anyway?

what I mean is, where would the boy be brought on an ATV there?

 

[human]

When the ATV first appeared in the United States in the early 1970's, it was promoted and sold as a recreational vehicle designed to provide "thrills" for the rider. This is still its primary use today. Shortly, however, sportsmen found that the ATV was a useful machine to move through areas not accessible with pick-up trucks, four-wheel drives, or other motorized vehicles. The ATV became popular as a hunting vehicle and was used to reach remote areas and to transport game back out.

 

[concentric]

Just thinking of optional means of transport on a farm back then. I mean even a tractor, a horse?

How suspicious would tractor tracks be on a farm? Was there never anyplace around the periphery of that farm where a transfer point to a car would be, other than the driveway?

 

[concentric]

So what investigators said at the time of the abduction was that there weren't any kind of tracks made by the abductor, right? Of course, there were tracks, tracks all over the place, made by the people who lived there. They were so intent on finding the tracks made by the car of the guy who happened to pass by, that they let that go I guess.

Someone please explain this to me because I feel really dumb right now.

 

[human]

So what investigators said at the time of the abduction was that there weren't any kind of tracks made by the abductor, right? Of course, there were tracks, tracks all over the place, made by the people who lived there. They were so intent on finding the tracks made by the car of the guy who happened to pass by, that they let that go I guess.

Someone please explain this to me because I feel really dumb right now.

Lotus put the video up above and took a still of the footprints.

They found the car tire tracks.

The dog tracked the scent 200 feet up the driveway and then what???

The driveway to the farm house is really really long. I don't know how long.

But I can't imagine why there would be many tracks on a farm.

They probably walked or took a car down the driveway to get the mail.

They wouldn't be walking in the fields as equipment is used to harvest and by October 22, everything is pretty much dead by then.

At any rate, the crops would be harvested. Did they have animals? I don't know.

 

[concentric]

The abductor's tracks were probably not visible on the road anyway. The guy told them to lie down in a ditch, and the children left the road to do so.

 

[human]

The abductor's tracks were probably not visible on the road anyway. The guy told them to lie down in a ditch, and the children left the road to do so.

I don't think he was on the road. I think he was in the driveway, wasn't he in the field a little bit?

 

[concentric]

I don't think he was on the road. I think he was in the driveway, wasn't he in the field a little bit?

Sorry, I meant to say: the guy was probably never in the driveway, where the children's footprints are anyway.

When I said road, I meant the gravel or dirt road leading up to the house, etc. (driveway)

 

[shergal]

Here's a google map of the area in St. Joseph, MN for those questioning parking lots, it's just all rural farm land like Human stated above. The DR residence address is: 29748-91st Ave. St. Joseph, MN and can be seen here on google maps just below and a bit to the right of the "A". This is an older map which still shows the 2 buildings in the front yard that burned down a while back.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

A slide show here shows both the Wetterling home and the DR site: http://wcco.com/slideshows/jacob.wetterling.abducted.20.1782866.html

This special section from the St. Cloud Times has an overhead shot showing Jacob's home, the DR farm, and the former Tom Thumb store (click on "the Scene"). Also has video of Jacob's friend Aaron and his parents talking about Jacob, home movies of Jacob, and the original 911 call by a neighbor (click on "their words").
http://www.sctimes.com/section/wetterling

 

[Dejasade]

I personally think it's a bit far fetched that DR managed to be right at that spot at the exact time the boys were walking home from the video store. how would he have known they would be walking by? Can you see that area from the house? Could he have seen them walk by walking to the video store, leave his house and hide out and wait for them?

 

[human]

I personally think it's a bit far fetched that DR managed to be right at that spot at the exact time the boys were walking home from the video store. how would he have known they would be walking by? Can you see that area from the house? Could he have seen them walk by walking to the video store, leave his house and hide out and wait for them?

Yup, that would be far fetched wouldn't it.

I put an article in here about a sex offender who is in the civilly committed facility in MN called Moose Lake who attempted to escape-was it last week?

He was in a rural area and he talked about how he window peeped.

I thought it was interesting as it gives insight to that type of behavior.

Aaron stated that he heard a rustling noise on the way to the Tom thumb in the field there.

So maybe the perp was out for a walk. There was no school the next day.

He waited for them to return while he went home and got a gun and a stocking.

Or he was peeping and heard their plans.

 

[Hope4Lost]

Is there any chance the perp (regardless of who it is) drove past the kids as they traveled to the store and took the opportunity to abduct. Some perps probably cruise on purpose, others just abduct on a whim when the opportunity presents itself. fwiw

 

[Hope4Lost]

Also along those lines, if the perp were a local, they wouldn't have to hide their vehicle, especially if they drove past the kids and parked in their own driveway. I'm simply thinking out loud. I don't have any strong feelings about the recent search one way or another, but obviously there was something that made the leo's decide to search.

 

[Lotus]

As far as the perp being in his 50's at the time, I think it's easy for children to mistake peoples ages. When I was that young I considered anyone in their 30's as geezers.

An FBI profile describes the abductor as a white man, 25 to 35, employed in a low-skilled job with a low self-image probably stemming from a physical deformity such as acne or scars.

Also, a couple of things worth noting are the days that each of the abductions occurred. The Cold Spring abduction happened on a friday, no school the next day.
The Wetterling abduction happened on a sunday but there was no school the next day because of a teachers conference.

And some other details about the Cold Spring case:
"After the assault, the man took Jared's blue jeans and his underwear and left the boy to put his snow pants over the naked lower half of his body.
While driving him back to town, the abductor kept questioning Jared about whether or not the boy could identify him."

1. Did the abductor keep Jared's clothing as some kind of sick fetish, or because it would have taken too long to put everything back on? (and if he did have a sick fetish could that mean he kept some of Jacobs clothing?)
2. I know this point has already been discussed, but why would he keep asking the boy if he could "identify" him?

 

[Lotus]

Also, wasn't DR supposed to have been "sleeping" when the event occurred yet he saw a car turn around in his driveway?

I think the abduction was done out of good timing. DR could have seen the Wetterling parents drive by his place on their way to the dinner party and he thought it would be a good opportunity to perv/spy around their home and when he saw the kids starting to leave he ran across the field and watched as they passed by the first time (Aaron said he heard the noise to the left of them as they were passing by the abduction spot the first time, the driveway would have been on their right) at which point he went inside to grab a gun and mask, because why else wait? he had an opportunity the first time around. Who knows, it's possible that what Aaron heard was something else and DR spotted them from his land/home when they went by the first time? (Or the perp could have been someone else all along).

 

[shergal]

I'd never heard that the perp kept Jared's jeans and underwear. That's interesting (and creepy), and if he was involved with Jacob also, maybe he kept some of his clothing too. I wonder if "Jared" would recognize the voice from that video of DR?

I kind of doubt the sheriff would have publicly named DR as a "person of interest" if they didn't have something pretty strong connecting him though.

I really hope they find something in all the items and dirt/ash they took from the farm to show who the perp really was, so the families can finally have some peace.

 

[MichelleClay]

Also, wasn't DR supposed to have been "sleeping" when the event occurred yet he saw a car turn around in his driveway?.

Yeah he claimed to be sleeping but also claimed to have seen a car. Also he heard the searching going on around his house right after the abduction but decided to go back to sleep. Really? I don't buy that part, but I'm still not fully convinced that DR is the perpetrator.

 

[human]

line drawing map of the abduction area


http://www.sctimes.com/assets/pdf/DR1446941018.PDF