MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #4

[Jbrown324320]

I could be wrong about the Wetterling family attending St Joseph's church and Jacob being an altar boy. Let me figure out where I read that and repost. If a mod is reading, you can redact those parts. I can't edit it.

 

[jenilou]

I feel certain the authorities have gone down many many paths in this investigation and they've all led back to DR for a reason. The investigation was sent off in the wrong direction with a report of a suspicious car turning around in DR's driveway that night if I'm not mistaken? Who knows what would have happened if they'd not been misled into thinking the perp wasn't on foot.

 

[Mischa]

Personally I still think the "best" suspect is the guy who abducted and molested the other boy (Jared?) in January 1989.
The boy was walking home from an ice rink when he was abducted and Jacob was skating too the day he vanished. The perp probably just hang around there looking for another victim. And when the Wetterlings left he just followed them.

Another possibility is that he didn`t have to follow because he already knew who Jacob was and where he lived. I once read that Jacob was a kind of a little sport star in St.Joseph and that his photo appeared in the local newspaper serveral times.

Anyway the perp was lurking around the house (perhaps not for the first time) when he saw the parents leaving. He probably just prepared himself for breaking into the house and abducting Jacob when he was surprised by the boys dashing away on their bikes.

He follwed them (the strange noise Aaron heard) and concluded that they would soon come back on the same road. He decided to wait on the R's driveway because there he had a long view both sides down the road, the driveway itsself was bituminized and R's farm was in a distance hidden behind trees.

When the boys came back he stopped them by gunpoint and discovered that in the dark he had a little difficulty to discern Jacob and so he asked the boys a few questions.

After he send Trevor and Aaron away he grabbed Jacob and forced him to his car which was probably parked in some distance from the spot he ambushed the boys. ( Remember: He didn't know there would be a chance to abduct Jacob at the R's driveway. He just planed to hang around the Wetterling`s house waiting for a chance or to break in as soon everybody was asleep.)

 

[Mischa]

As far D.R. is concerned I have the odd feeling he is mainly suspected because he is LE's last chance to solve the case. They have focused on the tire tracks found on the driveway so much that after in turned out that these tracks had nothing to do with the kidnapper they were empty-handed.

(And perhaps LE even found out that after in 1989 these tracks were discovered the rest of the search wasn`t as thoroughly as it should have been.)

As far as I know the only evidence against D.R. is that he lived very near to the spot Jacob was abducted, was alone at home this night (no alibi) and fitted as a man in his 30s who still lived with his parents somehow the now widley known general psychical description of a child molester.

If there isn't any further evidence the only thing I don't understand is why D.R. didn`t take legal steps long ago.

Personally I don't think he is the abductor. He was the Wetterling's neighbour. Jacob and Trevor knew his face and voice. Chances were they would recognize him even with a mask and in the dark.

Within less than half an hour after the abduction LE was on the R's driveway and few hours later their property was searched. How should D.R. have managed to hide the boy or to get rid of the body without being caught?

D.R. was a teacher for decades. After the accusations were made puplicly no (former) pupil came forward claiming he was molested or even touched inapproprialtly by him. (And after the prejudments I read in serveral forums/articles I think it's really a miracle that nobody took the opportunity to fight back for whatever or to have his five minutes of fame.)

I think Minnesota State will be sentenced to pay D.R. a lot of money if he only tries to get it. And they should pay.
D.R's life and the lifes of his parents are destroyed for ever. There is virtually no place in USA or even in the english speaking world were he could live safe and without being suspected.

And as you see: Even in the not-english-speaking Europe there are people who are aware of the Wetterling-Case and would recognize D.R. if he walked down our roads.

 

[Cappuccino]

I too believe Jacob was abducted by the same man who attacked Jared. From memory, Jared was kept overnight in hospital for tests after he was sexually assaulted. Is there DNA from that rape kit? If so, has it been compared to DR's DNA? Has it been put through CODIS?

These are the questions I would like the answer to.

 

[jenilou]

I too think the same person assaulted Jared.

 

[human]

as far as Jared, maybe yes, maybe no.

For those who have not physically been to the site of abduction, I have to say that thinking Jacob was stalked is absurd.

First of all, the Wetterlings had a dog who probably would have gone crazy if someone was out by the house.

I believe there were three houses in the Wetterling cul de sac which then had no houses until the Rassier farm.

The road was tiny and dark with very very very few houses on it. By the store, there were some closer together, and then nothing until the Rassier farm.

If you have not looked at maps, it may be helpful, but if they are current, they do not indicate what it was like back then. Very isolated .

As far as recognizing Rassier, who know if the kids had ever seen him. I don't know what most of my neighbors look like

 

[Cappuccino]

I don't think there's any need to think that Jacob was being stalked. Nor is there any need to think that the person who took him knew in advance that he was going to be there, any more than the person who took Jared knew in advance that he was going to be there. It could easily just be an opportunistic paedophile who was cruising around looking for an opportunity.

If such a person saw the boys come from that direction towards the video store, he could have taken an educated guess that the boys would go back that road and lain in wait.

 

[Mischa]

I don't think that the man who took Jacob was there by mere chance.
He had a gun with him and a mask. He was there to commit a crime.

He waited on a dark driveway and on a remote and lonely country road. Chances that a victim would just come around were slim.

No, I think he saw the boys bike away and he just waited for them to get back.

The idea that he probably stalked Jacob came to me because of the coincidence with the ice rink. We're talking about a guy for whom sports grounds were hunting grounds. I think he saw Jacob there and decided he would be his victim.

When he came to the house of the Wetterlings this evening he realized it was a cul-de-sac with only a few houses. So he parked his car in some distance and came back on foot.

The dog probably was a really bad surprise for him. He had to reverse his plans. No chance to steal Jacob from his own bed in the middle of night.

(One of the few things we definitely know about the man is that he was someone who was willing to take great risks - There a very few kidnappers in history who dared to take their victims in front of witnesses. So I think he even could have planed to break in house while the parents were at home)

Perhaps he was already willing to give up the plans for this night when he saw the parents leave. Probably he stood in the dark trying to figure out another plan when the boys passed him on their bikes. He just folowed them.

Idon't say that was definitely the way it happend but I think it is a lot more likely then to think there was a perp just by chance lurking around the dark driveway with a gun in his hand and a mask on his face.

 

[Mischa]

As far as recognizing Rassier, who know if the kids had ever seen him. I don't know what most of my neighbors look like

Nowadays as an adult living in suburbs of a big city I also don't know most of my neighbours.

But that was very much different when I was a child living in a smal and remote village. I knew the faces if not the names of nearly all the inhabitants. I would have recognized their voices. I was lurking around the whole village. I knew whose father drove the red Mercedes 450 SEL and to whom belonged the one-eyed brown tomcat. My parents would not have known any of this things.

So I think even if Mr. and Ms Wetterling didn't know D.R. it is quite possible their children knew him.

 

[human]

First of all, the boys did not see a car on the road. This was a tiny dirt road. No way could a person in a car pass them and the boys would not see the car.

The Rassier house is quite a ways down a driveway. This is not a village. The Wetterlings live down a long road which had hardly any houses on it and nothing down at their end.

Perhaps the kids knew of him. I doubt if they would have more than a two second interest in someone of that age. Why would they?

As far as selecting Jacob, two of the boys were the same age.

All I can say is that either one has to go there to see the situation or try to see it by map as it was back then.

 

[jenilou]

Seems as though DR kept to himself mostly so why would the boys know him? I think the "gravely" voice was a result of DR trying to disguise his distinguishable lisp/ affect.

 

[shergal]

OK, a couple of clarifications here.

The Wetterlings are not Catholic and never attended St. Joseph's church. They are Bahai faith. Jacob was never an altar boy. I think JBrown is thinking about a couple of the boys who were altar boys and were abused in the St. Joe Parish by Father Tom and Father Brennan (ok to use their names as they have been published several times in the local paper and are publicly on restriction at St. John's).

And Mischa said:
"He was the Wetterling's neighbour. Jacob and Trevor knew his face and voice. Chances were they would recognize him even with a mask and in the dark."

Patty Wetterling has stated that none of her family knew DR's family. DR's family kept to themselves. When she finally got a chance to speak with DR when walking past one day, that was the first time she had ever spoken to him. The boys did not know Dan, nor had they ever heard his voice. I'll find links for this if I need to, but it's been in several reports.

Also the theory that the perp was hanging around stalking Jacob and followed him from his house is not at all likely if you know the terrain. Jacob's family lives at the end of a cul-de-sac way out in the middle of nowhere. There were no homes behind them, and no access roads. The road comes from town, goes past DR's farm, turns right about 1/2 mile down, then you go about 2-3 blocks and turn left into a dead end. There are 7 homes on this little circle and that is the only way in or out. Jacob's house is at the "back" of the dead end circle. So anyone "hanging around" would be seen by neighbors in the other 6 houses. It's way out in the country, you can hear cars coming for quite a way. There is nowhere you could "leave" your car on this road.

Also
"Within less than half an hour after the abduction LE was on the R's driveway and few hours later their property was searched. How should D.R. have managed to hide the boy or to get rid of the body without being caught?"

LE never searched inside DR's home at all that night or the next day. DR was allowed to leave his property in the morning in his car and no one checked it. He has laughed in an interview about how he had a bunch of boxes in his car that no one ever even checked.

 

[amber1]

I always thought it could be one of three things.
1. It had to be someone who knew the parents would be going out that night and leaving the kids alone.
2. It had to be someone who knew the boys were going to the store. Did they call anyone else besides their parents and the neighbor girl (the babysitter) and just so happen to tell them they would be riding their bikes to the store.
3. With the stalker theory, maybe the perp followed Jacob's father, Jacob, and Trevor home from the hockey rink that day. Maybe not all the way to their driveway, but just enough to know what area they live in. I'm not a stalker so I don't know. Maybe he over heard Jerry talking at the rink saying that he would be leaving the kids alone that night, and leaving the perp to think that it would be the perfect time to perv around there house. Anythings possible. Or he could have followed them home another day from a grocery store, restraunt, school, etc. No telling how long Jacob could have been stalked.
I know these theories seem a little far fetched but to me nothing else makes any sense. I don't buy that idea that a perp just happened to be sitting in a ditch on a dark Sunday night hoping that a child would come strolling by. Either way you look at it, this was planned to some extent. Also it has been mentioned that Patty ordered pizza for the kids that night before they left. Did the pizza ever get delievered? So many questions, so little answers.

I also agree with you-I don't think he was sitting in the ditch near a dirt road waiting for a random child, I believe this was premeditated, and that Jacob was stalked for a bit before hand. The whole situation scares me-they tell you to tell your kids there's safety in numbers, yet in Jacob's situation, it didn't seem true:/
I have always thought Jacob was taken for human trafficking, especially since the perp was asking for their ages.
In a couple months here, we will have another anniversary of Jacob's disappearance. Thinking of him and his family!

 

[KeepHopeAlive]

Stalking does not have to occur at a person's home. School, the hockey rink, his parents' place of employment, etc. I'm trying to think outside the box.

 

[Cappuccino]

When I said an opportunistic paedophile, I didn't in any sense mean that he was there by chance. I'm thinking of a Michael Devlin type character who was out with a gun and a mask looking for a child to kidnap.

Devlin took Shawn Hornbeck because he was out looking for one to take and he saw Shawn turn off the main road onto a quiet country road. When Shawn asked him why, he said "you were in the wrong place at the wrong time." Jacob could also have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's what I meant by opportunistic.

 

[human]

this was a Sunday night, although there was no school the next day.

Please explain why a pedo would go down a country road with hardly any houses on it that late at night looking for a child to take?

This is not a city street. This is a long road with nothing on it.

If Jacob was stalked, why would the pedo be in DR's driveway? The pedo would not be able to get to Jacob's house . Shergirl has described the situation.

The simplest solution seems the best. Someone was out in his neighborhood and heard the children. Someone went home and got what he needed (gun, mask) and waited for the boys to return because he DID know where they lived. He would have no way of knowing if they would return rather than going to a friend's house. He got lucky.

 

[Cappuccino]

this was a Sunday night, although there was no school the next day.

Please explain why a pedo would go down a country road with hardly any houses on it that late at night looking for a child to take?

This is not a city street. This is a long road with nothing on it.

Shawn Hornbeck was taken on a Sunday afternoon on a long country road with nothing on it.

These three boys cycled down to the local video store. Its not impossible at all that someone could have been between the end of the country road and the video store, seen which direction the boys came from and went down the country road specifically to lie in wait in for them. A video store on a Sunday evening with no school the next day would be a logical enough place for an opportunistic paedophile to be watching.

 

[jenilou]

Shawn Hornbeck was taken on a Sunday afternoon on a long country road with nothing on it.

These three boys cycled down to the local video store. Its not impossible at all that someone could have been between the end of the country road and the video store, seen which direction the boys came from and went down the country road specifically to lie in wait in for them. A video store on a Sunday evening with no school the next day would be a logical enough place for an opportunistic paedophile to be watching.

It's not impossible that a strange man had seen Jacob somewhere and stalked him. And maybe he'd been there before and had never had the opportunity and that night was it. Wasn't this the first time they'd been allowed to ride alone at night though? I wonder then, why the abductor would have waited there masked with a gun? What would make him think that they would be out there? He couldn't abduct him right outside the house because the risk of getting caught or someone hearing them and coming to their aid would be too high. And why the mask if he's a stranger that couldn't be identified?

Does it make more sense that the odd neighbor, who hangs out with middle schoolers all day by profession and has a snazzy nick name like Mr. Bee Bop yet was by most accounts odd and kept to himself when he wasn't working, the one who lived with his parents who were out of the country, the one who was off of work the next day, the one who called and reported a strange car in his driveway turning around that night, the one who's got no alibi, the one who, by his own admittance, had plenty of time and means to commit a crime dispose of a body? Yes.

It just does. There is no way around all of that for DR. It's more than a "hunch" for the authorities. And DR cannot seem to wrap his head around that. He thinks because he's a "pleasant" and "mild mannered" guy and that he's never been accused of a crime that he should be left alone. Well when circumstantial evidence all points in one direction...and Jacob's footprints all but go to his front door...

My feeling from him has always been one of "I'm smarter than all of you idiots"..."i did this and you gave me plenty of time to do it- nobody checked my house for 5 days or my car full of boxes the next morning! I mean c'mon people!" I think he's so brazen about speaking out and doing interviews because the body is so long gone that he knows they will never find it...But now, he's getting mad because he realizes that it's ruining his and his parent's lives...now that the word is out that he's a person of interest his life is being taken away...Just like Jacob's was. I do feel for his parents and if he didn't do it, then he's the most unlucky guy in the world. But my feeling is he did.

Have we ever heard from any of DR's family or friends in support of him? Coworkers? Have there been any interviews or articles with quotes from supporters? Have I missed these?

 

[Cappuccino]

I don't know, and I'm not supporting DR nor discounting him as a suspect in both this crime and the kidnap and sexual assault of Jared earlier that year.

On the contrary, I don't think any theory sould be dismissed out of hand. DR, unknown stalker, unknown opportunistic paedophile, child traffickers or anything else which is known to have been the case with previous missing child cases.

I'd dearly love to know if there was physical evidence from the attack on Jared, and if so against whom has it been compared? That info doesn't seem to be in the public realm though.