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

[human]

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

Unless you live in the country, it's hard to understand the road situation there, perhaps.

This was a very dark narrow road that would have incredibly little traffic.

The boys did not remember a car. So, I would say that no one was cruising around.

And unless they knew the boys, they would not know how far they were going. There were houses by the Tom Thumb area, but after that, there was NOTHING but the farm,( which couldn't be seen from the road) and then the houses to the cul de sac which was a ways farther.

A car would be noticed. There would be ONE car. Not lots of cars.

 

[Hope4Lost]

Unless you live in the country, it's hard to understand the road situation there, perhaps.

This was a very dark narrow road that would have incredibly little traffic.

The boys did not remember a car. So, I would say that no one was cruising around.

And unless they knew the boys, they would not know how far they were going. There were houses by the Tom Thumb area, but after that, there was NOTHING but the far, and then the houses to the cul de sac which was a ways farther.

A car would be noticed. There would be ONE car. Not lots of cars.

Thank you for letting me know that the boys didn't remember seeing any cars. I've read several online versions of what happened, but I didn't read any that mentioned this specific fact. I'm surprised that this case has drug on like it has considering the terrain and lack of vehicles. Really surprised.

 

[raeann]

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.

Most farms of that size would have at least one family car, this one probably had two or more, since three adults lived there. There were two other adult sons, also, who could have been frequent visitors. There would have been farm trucks, delivery trucks, tractors, etc. The only way any specific tracks would "stick out" was if they were off to the side of the drive further than others, or if there were evidence of a turn around at some unlikely point, etc. At all of the farms that I have lived on/spent much time on.....it would be a rare day if less than a half dozen or more different vehicles entered and left by way of the drive way. Any tire tracks at all that matched the residents of that house, whether on the road or in the drive would not raise any suspicion at all. Since the son was a marathon runner, even footprints on the drive or road that matched his would be expected, also.

jmo

 

[Hope4Lost]

What was the perp reported to be wearing, or did the boys get a decent look? Other than the mask, of course.

 

[Lotus]

Here's my attempt at mapping out the scene, I had to do a little guess work from other photos when it came to the location of the second telephone pole where Jacobs footprints disappeared.



Original version. Note: Many of the houses in the background were not there in 1989.

 

[MCDRAW]

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?

I'm thinking he could have heard them. I know my kids are loud...they don't just ride, they yell, they talk, they laugh. Maybe he was outside and heard them go by, went and got a mask and waited on them. I'm not saying it was DR but who would see people searching their yards and not find out what they are looking for? Just go back to bed because they didn't want to waste time. That is just odd to me.

 

[human]

I think that the driveway has been paved as well. I think it was dirt back then, wasn't it?

 

[October]

Where exactly was the abduction site? The SC Times map that was just linked to lists it at Dale St., but other reports say at the end of the driveway to the farm. Anyone know for sure?

 

[shergal]

Here's my attempt at mapping out the scene, I had to do a little guess work from other photos when it came to the location of the second telephone pole where Jacobs footprints disappeared.



Original version. Note: Many of the houses in the background were not there in 1989.

If that blue tarp towards the foreground (bottom) of those pics is where LE/FBI was doing some digging, the perp could have gone straight back between fields with Jacob too, right at the 2nd telephone spot.

Other ideas entertained over the years, not involving DR, have been someone who was stalking Jacob and maybe knew his parents were at a dinner party that night. They also looked into anyone with a grudge against the Ba Hai (sp?) faith at the time, since Jacob's dad was head of the local NAACP and they both belonged to that religion.

 

[shergal]

Where exactly was the abduction site? The SC Times map that was just linked to lists it at Dale St., but other reports say at the end of the driveway to the farm. Anyone know for sure?

Dale Street is right across from the driveway and leads to another subdivision of homes. Back in 1989 it was just a dirt road and didn't have all those homes. The red button on that line drawing map is on the driveway.

 

[Lotus]

The SCTimes made an error with their map, there is/was no road directly opposite of the driveway.http://www.sctimes.com/assets/pdf/DR1446941018.PDF

View from google earth.

 

[shergal]

Good catch, Dale Street is further south on the other end of the trees hiding the house. It does look like there is a small dirt road/path you can walk on along the edge of that field across from the DR driveway. But I was wrong about it later being the street that went to that subdivision.

I checked the address on mapquest also, pretty rural yet out past the farm.

 

[Lotus]

Here is a more detailed map I did. I grayed out some of the subdivisions that didn't exist in 1989 (I'm not from St. Joe so I'm sorry if I made any mistakes).

 

[shergal]

I googled the name of some friends we know who live near the Wetterlings, and on google maps they actually had the "street view" feature where you can follow along the road and it's like you're there walking. You can pivot to either side and see properties. I went from the Wetterlings home down to DR's farm and that is not a road across from his driveway, it's just a short turnaround section (only long enough for a car to go into and turn around). Next to it on the north side is the ditch where the boys left their bikes that night.

I can't link it here, because it contains our friend's name, and I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate that. ;-) I tried using the map with the Wetterling's address and DR's, but then the street view doesn't come up which is strange. Kinda cool to actually "see" the road.

In other news, I was reading the Topix section on the Twin Cities paper about Jacob and they had a picture of DR running. I won't post it here, because I'm not sure if that's against the rules even though he's a POI. But here is the link: http://www.runningintheusa.com/ph05/rusa3/Grand Island 028.jpg

 

[human]

Lotus, thanks so much for blotting out those subdivisions.

Really, there was NOTHING there except for those homes past the farm on the way to the Tom thumb.

The thing is, the kids were not scheduled to go on this bike ride. They called the home where the party was-it was some kind of PTA thing. Patty said ,"No."

I don't recall if they called back and asked for Jerry or ir they asked Patty to talk to Jerry.

He said it would be OK if they did all kinds of safety things. The kids arranged for a sitter for the little sister.

I think it was just a stroke of luck that the perp was out there and saw the kids ride past.

He got his stuff and waited for them to return.

If he was interested in young boys, he probably knew all about them.

 

[Trino]

All Quiet on the Western MN Front...

I don't think we'll hear anything for weeks/months. If nothing is found, I don't think we'll hear anything at all.

 

[Dejasade]

Lotus, thanks so much for blotting out those subdivisions.

Really, there was NOTHING there except for those homes past the farm on the way to the Tom thumb.

The thing is, the kids were not scheduled to go on this bike ride. They called the home where the party was-it was some kind of PTA thing. Patty said ,"No."

I don't recall if they called back and asked for Jerry or ir they asked Patty to talk to Jerry.

He said it would be OK if they did all kinds of safety things. The kids arranged for a sitter for the little sister.

I think it was just a stroke of luck that the perp was out there and saw the kids ride past.

He got his stuff and waited for them to return.

If he was interested in young boys, he probably knew all about them.

Ya...I think that the perp was the guy they saw at Tom's Thumb....maybe he followed them....hid and acted. Why he chose Jacob, who knows?? I wish this case would be solved so badly....

 

[Mr. E]

I wonder if it wasn't somebody closer, like a neighbor, or someone visiting a neighbor, who happened to hear the boys talking about going to Tom Thumb's. He could have followed them and, knowing they'd return the same way, waited in the woods for them.

 

[coaster]

Hi, I've been following the Wetterling case for some time and decided I might as well join in the discussion.

The small bit of paving that is across the road from the driveway is for farm equipment and trucks to get across the ditch without getting bogged down when it's muddy.
In one of Aaron's interviews he states they were talking or being loud when they went by the farm on the way to Tom Thumb so anyone out would have likely heard them and know they would be coming home soon especially since it was dark. Aaron said he heard a sound that "shouldn't be there" in the field to the left by the farm but didn't say anything to Jacob or Trevor. It could have been an animal or the abductor or anything but it is a coincidence that shouldn't be ignored. That's the thing. Country people know sounds which makes DR's excuse of being sleepy and not wanting to waste his time that night most suspicious. Living on a farm, you just KNOW if something is wrong or someone is on your property even a couple hundred feet away from your house. Following that, a stranger would not be in a farmer's driveway because he wouldn't know if someone would be driving down the driveway or if the farmer might see him. No, imho, a stranger would stage an abduction down the road away from possible sightings.

In the link below, Aaron states the man came out of the R's driveway and "he had all black on." He just saw a silhouette of the man because of the darkness so "black" may be subjective. Aaron also states if he heard his voice again, he would get chills. Surely, he has heard DR speak in the last 20 years but even so, that doesn't rule out DR because the abductor could have been talking low and gruffly so as not to be recognized.

http://www.startribune.com/video/?vid=64688382&elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycU9PhDcU5PhDco8P77jyPhU

One other thing from a post way back in maybe part 1, someone commented that DR said his mother didn't have stockings but later someone else commented that in a video the camera panned to the bathroom and there were stocking in there. The R's are religious and during the 80's you were expected to dress up for church unlike today where jeans and t-shirts are acceptable. Any older woman would have stockings to wear to mass.

 

[celticthyme]

It can not be emphasized enough how dark, islolated and desolate that road was in 1989. I wonder too if the road itself was gravel back then, I just can't remember. I do remember driving it a week or so later, both day & night to see what it looked like at night. There was just nothing. But even if the boys were not loud, you could have heard them coming from the Wetterling's way down the road.