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

[Jbrown324320]

Shergal, thanks for giving me a clearer picture of the area. Should we believe the driver's story? I would really like to know why the driver was cleared and who was he. Was he a student at St Johns? Did others confirm his story? Who confirmed his story? A monk? The abbott? Why did he wait so long to come forward? It still seems fishy to me, even though I can see someone doing this.

I wish the 911 operator asked Trevor and Aaron more questions about what happened. It also seems like part of the 911 call was cut- the part right after the operator asks Trevor if he threatened them.

 

[Jbrown324320]

thanks for the corrections Shergal! It's was hard to decipher some of the words.

 

[Jbrown324320]

OK, according to the St Cloud timeline, apparently the driver of the car whose tire tracks were at the scene was an art student who was searching for scenes to sketch? In the dark? Was he from St Johns? U know how I feel about St Johns and their cover up about the prolific child sex abuse that went on there for over a hundred years, right? I feel that we can't trust anyone in power at St John's. The police maybe didn't know that then.

 

[Jbrown324320]

One of the St Cloud articles interviewing Aaron's parents said that Aaron freaked out when a newspaper boy came to the house, knocked on the window and waived to him because he had a ski mask on for the cold weather. I am leaning toward the perpetrator having a ski mask on.

 

[shergal]

Trying to answer the "which woods" question here. This is a current map - satellite view of the area. DR's farm is on the right with a big woods in front of it. The home in front of those woods was not there in 1989. Across what is now 16th Ave. SE, there are 4 houses. They were there (at least 3 of them) back in 1989. One of those homes (I'm guessing the most southern one) was Urban Screifels' home. It would make sense if you were biking south on that road, that you would see a man standing in the road several feet ahead at DR's driveway. Straight across from DR's driveway to the west are some woods. I'm thinking now they ran back that way first "into the woods" and then turned and ran cross country south to Kiwi Court. It looks far on the map, but we're talking maybe 2-3 blocks. Those woods to the west were more extensive back in 1989. Hope that helps.

Adding link because it looks like image didn't work:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Saint Joseph&state=MN

Try this one:
http://mapq.st/fRMznQ

 

[shergal]

OK, according to the St Cloud timeline, apparently the driver of the car whose tire tracks were at the scene was an art student who was searching for scenes to sketch? In the dark? Was he from St Johns? U know how I feel about St Johns and their cover up about the prolific child sex abuse that went on there for over a hundred years, right? I feel that we can't trust anyone in power at St John's. The police maybe didn't know that then.

No, the red car "seen in the area" was the art student. Several locals reported having seen this strange car driving around on back roads before Jacob was abducted. The person who pulled into the driveway was a different local St. Joe guy who heard the 911 call on his scanner, and drove to the area to check it out. He talked to a cop at the scene, they arrived right after him. The cop dismissed him at that time and never even put it in his report. Later they went back and checked on this guy and he had been home with family who could vouch for him when listening to his scanner. So he was cleared. He was just nosy. ;-)

 

[Jbrown324320]

thanks for clearing up more stuff Shergal!

 

[human]

That is a pretty detailed description. What did the people at the Tom Thumb say about when the man left, and which direction he went? Did the boys see him when they were at the store, and if so did they see any cars going their direction as they were leaving? Did anyone else recognize the car, or give similar descriptions? So many questions.
I would think with that description, it would be pretty easy to recognize who is is, if he were from - or was visiting in the area. He would probably stand out.

there was EXTENSIVE coverage of that drawing. Nothing ever came of it and it is said that LE doesn't think that he had anything to do with it. No cars were seen by he boys on the way home.

If he was a stranger, there is no way that he would know where the boys were going.

Unless you had been there at the time, one cannot realize how lonely that road was as there were hardly any homes along it at all andnone for a long ways until the Wetterling cul de sac.

 

[Jbrown324320]

I can believe how close the abduction spot is to the land belonging to St Benedict! I will have to see if there were any of the monks who taught at St Ben's had active abuse cases in 1989.

 

[human]

OK, according to the St Cloud timeline, apparently the driver of the car whose tire tracks were at the scene was an art student who was searching for scenes to sketch? In the dark? Was he from St Johns? U know how I feel about St Johns and their cover up about the prolific child sex abuse that went on there for over a hundred years, right? I feel that we can't trust anyone in power at St John's. The police maybe didn't know that then.

No, the tire tracks were from a NEIGHBOR NAMED Kevin. THE ART STUDENT WAS SOMEONE WHO WAS IN THE AREA DOING SKETCHES IN THE DAY OR THE DAYS BEFORE? DON'T REMEMBER.

Sorry, my caps got hit when typing,.

 

[human]

I cannot see how Jacob was stalked. There is no way that anyone could guess that those boys would be going out to the Tom Thumb that night. They had never done it in the past.

And this is not a neighborhood where someone could blend in. There were three houses, I think, in the cul de sac, and otherwise nothing for a long ways.

 

[Mom who cares]

shergal, Jbrown, human, your extensive knowledge of this case is very much appreciated by me. Thanks so much for the transcript! You all rock!

 

[shergal]

shergal, Jbrown, human, your extensive knowledge of this case is very much appreciated by me. Thanks so much for the transcript! You all rock!

I have to credit Solitary sleuther for getting us into it again. It all pretty much died down after last summer's dig at DR's and Patty W. saying she wanted people talking about Jacob and not the POI so much.

JBrown: It is really close to St. Ben's and the St. Joseph parish church where Father Tom and Father Brennan lived in the rectory and worked is just to the east of St. Ben's. very convenient. (Kind of a short RUN to DR's from the rectory, just sayin'.) :angel:

Where Klinefelter park is now located - that was originally woods and also belonged to St. Ben's, I think.

Here is a map showing the location of the church and rectory:

Church of Saint Joseph - 12 West Minnesota Street - St. Joseph, MN

http://www.churchstjoseph.org/directions.html

 

[Jbrown324320]

shergal,
Fr Tom G was accused of putting his hand down the pants of a 10 year old boy and he has at least 4 known victims. Fr Brennan M was accused of molesting a 9 year old altar boy in 1966 (accused in 1992). Father Brennan did not deny the abuse. I don't see that he was in St Josephs working at a parish at the time of the disappearance, but he could easily travel. They both lived and worked close to where Jacob was abducted? I wonder if they were interviewed as suspects. From what I have read, priests have had like some sort of immunity from the police.

 

[concentric]

Why did the hockey jacket have the word: POLICE on it? I haven't read that in every article.
What connection did the police have with the hockey team? Thanks.

 

[Solitary Truth Sleuth]

Trying to answer the "which woods" question here. This is a current map - satellite view of the area. DR's farm is on the right with a big woods in front of it. The home in front of those woods was not there in 1989. Across what is now 16th Ave. SE, there are 4 houses. They were there (at least 3 of them) back in 1989. One of those homes (I'm guessing the most southern one) was Urban Screifels' home. It would make sense if you were biking south on that road, that you would see a man standing in the road several feet ahead at DR's driveway. Straight across from DR's driveway to the west are some woods. I'm thinking now they ran back that way first "into the woods" and then turned and ran cross country south to Kiwi Court. It looks far on the map, but we're talking maybe 2-3 blocks. Those woods to the west were more extensive back in 1989. Hope that helps.

Adding link because it looks like image didn't work:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Saint Joseph&state=MN

Try this one:
http://mapq.st/fRMznQ

Shergal, thanks for the great map. I have a much better picture of it all now. Do you know where the bikes were found in relation to the Rassier driveway? I saw the photos on the link you posted, but I couldn't tell the location.
I did notice on the map, that the woods across from the Rassier side of the road do lead pretty easily to Pondview Lane, which was probably a pretty undeveloped street in 1989. The cul de sac still doesn't look like it has homes on it. It would have been a good place to leave a car.
Also, the houses on 16th Ave SE look like they are on 91st Ave. Did the road change names?

 

[shergal]

shergal,
Fr Tom G was accused of putting his hand down the pants of a 10 year old boy and he has at least 4 known victims. Fr Brennan M was accused of molesting a 9 year old altar boy in 1966 (accused in 1992). Father Brennan did not deny the abuse. I don't see that he was in St Josephs working at a parish at the time of the disappearance, but he could easily travel. They both lived and worked close to where Jacob was abducted? I wonder if they were interviewed as suspects. From what I have read, priests have had like some sort of immunity from the police.

I know Father Brennan was at that rectory, because he ran a "christian single youth group" for young adults and they had the meetings there. I attended some of these meetings, so I know him. He was a very charismatic guy and no one would have ever suspected he had that abuser/pedo side to him. It creeps me out now that we all hung around with this guy thinking he was such a great guy. A lot of us girls had a crush on him, which shows you how clueless we were back then.

Fr. Tom also had contact with the Wetterlings, he went to their house to counsel them after Jacob went missing. Ugh.

 

[Jbrown324320]

concentric- I am assuming the police department was their sponsors. Many teams have businesses that sponsor them.

 

[Solitary Truth Sleuth]

No, the red car "seen in the area" was the art student. Several locals reported having seen this strange car driving around on back roads before Jacob was abducted. The person who pulled into the driveway was a different local St. Joe guy who heard the 911 call on his scanner, and drove to the area to check it out. He talked to a cop at the scene, they arrived right after him. The cop dismissed him at that time and never even put it in his report. Later they went back and checked on this guy and he had been home with family who could vouch for him when listening to his scanner. So he was cleared. He was just nosy. ;-)

I guess that there would be nothing they could do to him, considering they never even took his name at the time. But honestly I have to say, that for him to not come forward for so many years, knowing that they were looking for the driver of that vehicle, seems pretty unbelievable/irresponsible. I can't believe that he is doing interviews about it. If it weren't for that vehicle, the direction of the search might have been very different, and may have had a very different outcome.

 

[Jbrown324320]

shergal, your inside knowledge of the area and the people has been a huge asset. Do you happen to know if the priests hung out together or lived at the same place? They both abused young boys. I am wondering if maybe they compared notes or tried to one up each other or something sick like that. I really think they both need to be interviewed by police before they pass away. Father BM would have been in 53 when Jacob disappeared and Fr TG would have been 52. Didn't the boy abducted from Cold Spring say that he looked like he was in his 50's? (assuming this is the same suspect)