MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #5

[eileenhawkeye]

Hey, so I have access to this newspaper archive database, with 1479 newspaper articles about Jacob's case. So if anyone has something specific that want me to look up, just reply to this post. This includes 404 articles from the St. Paul Pioneer Press and 320 articles from the Star Tribune.

 

[Trackergd]

The tire is too narrow for a tractor. It is an older pickup or sedan. 1950's to very early 1970's. Unless someone purchased an older set of tires from a country tire shop with older stock. Stored away in a dark place, tires can last quite a while.

The tire track next to the prints was made at the same time as the prints. I know this due to the sharp edge of the tire track and lack of erosion by weathering. The tire prints and the foot prints were made at the same time or within 4 hours of each other at the most. Since the tire tracks did not obliterate any of the prints (there are no partial prints I can see sticking out from the tire track, and there are none on the other side of the track I can see, and the closest one to the tire prints show a lot of force, I feel they were made at the same time.

I am 100% sure of the above based on over 48 years of experience reading prints.

The tire tracks could not have obliterated all of the perp prints. It is my opinion that whomever investigated these prints was not a tracker and did not know how to read them properly. I am not finding fault with LE, just stating what I am seeing. They have chosen not to share, my guess is that they do not want to be found wanting in their evaluation of the evidence and be liable for error or omission of key evidence..or they know who it is and just cannot prove it enough to arrest the POI.

 

[Trackergd]

Hey, so I have access to this newspaper archive database, with 1479 newspaper articles about Jacob's case. So if anyone has something specific that want me to look up, just reply to this post. This includes 404 articles from the St. Paul Pioneer Press and 320 articles from the Star Tribune.

If there are any better pictures of the prints (and they can be black and white) I would love to see them.

 

[Trackergd]

I never recall hearing anything about the newspaper.

There would be no way to know if they had an old pickup on their property. If it was not used on a street, it would not be licensed. Just like no one would know if you own a shovel or not.

I would be surprised that they did not have such a vehicle. For my little acreage, I have a lawn tractor with a trailer for hauling wood and other items. A large spread like the DR place needs something. Could be a tractor. Could be a pick up.

DR was nice enough to search the outbuildings. Convenient.

I have never seen a farm from the 50's to the 70's that did not have an old rattletrap pickup for driving out to the tractor or hauling hay bales etc... They did not have quad's, gators and side by sides back then.

 

[human]

This was 1989 so I am guessing the tires could in no way be on a street legal car.

If DR for instance, put Jacob in a vehicle and he accidentally died, would dogs pick up on the scent?

I am thinking the dogs they used were looking for a live boy

 

[human]

Eileen, is there any way you can find an article that says DR stuck his head out a window and said he was too tired to search ?

He is not listed by name in the article. I think it just references the farm

 

[Trackergd]

This was 1989 so I am guessing the tires could in no way be on a street legal car.

If DR for instance, put Jacob in a vehicle and he accidentally died, would dogs pick up on the scent?

I am thinking the dogs they used were looking for a live boy

I still think the dog would have picked up on the scent. Ground scent dogs pick up on dead skin cells that drop off of your body and leave a trail.

 

[Trackergd]

This was 1989 so I am guessing the tires could in no way be on a street legal car.

If DR for instance, put Jacob in a vehicle and he accidentally died, would dogs pick up on the scent?

I am thinking the dogs they used were looking for a live boy

Unless someone was tooling around the area in a restored vintage car or truck.

 

[thenotebook]

The tire is too narrow for a tractor. It is an older pickup or sedan. 1950's to very early 1970's. Unless someone purchased an older set of tires from a country tire shop with older stock. Stored away in a dark place, tires can last quite a while.

The tire track next to the prints was made at the same time as the prints. I know this due to the sharp edge of the tire track and lack of erosion by weathering. The tire prints and the foot prints were made at the same time or within 4 hours of each other at the most. Since the tire tracks did not obliterate any of the prints (there are no partial prints I can see sticking out from the tire track, and there are none on the other side of the track I can see, and the closest one to the tire prints show a lot of force, I feel they were made at the same time.

I am 100% sure of the above based on over 48 years of experience reading prints.

The tire tracks could not have obliterated all of the perp prints. It is my opinion that whomever investigated these prints was not a tracker and did not know how to read them properly. I am not finding fault with LE, just stating what I am seeing. They have chosen not to share, my guess is that they do not want to be found wanting in their evaluation of the evidence and be liable for error or omission of key evidence..or they know who it is and just cannot prove it enough to arrest the POI.

Your analysis is fantastic, and I hope you'll consider emailing your analysis to the Sterns County LE. This case could have been a whole lot different if they had someone like you on the case from the very beginning

 

[shergal]

The tire is too narrow for a tractor. It is an older pickup or sedan. 1950's to very early 1970's. Unless someone purchased an older set of tires from a country tire shop with older stock. Stored away in a dark place, tires can last quite a while.

The tire track next to the prints was made at the same time as the prints. I know this due to the sharp edge of the tire track and lack of erosion by weathering. The tire prints and the foot prints were made at the same time or within 4 hours of each other at the most. Since the tire tracks did not obliterate any of the prints (there are no partial prints I can see sticking out from the tire track, and there are none on the other side of the track I can see, and the closest one to the tire prints show a lot of force, I feel they were made at the same time.

I am 100% sure of the above based on over 48 years of experience reading prints.

The tire tracks could not have obliterated all of the perp prints. It is my opinion that whomever investigated these prints was not a tracker and did not know how to read them properly. I am not finding fault with LE, just stating what I am seeing. They have chosen not to share, my guess is that they do not want to be found wanting in their evaluation of the evidence and be liable for error or omission of key evidence..or they know who it is and just cannot prove it enough to arrest the POI.

Tracker, I wonder how this fits in with Kevin driving into that driveway all the way up to the house and coming back out - about a half hour to an hour right after the abduction happened? Is it possible those are his tire tracks? It's hard to believe he would have gone through there twice and not obliterated tire tracks there ahead of him. I would think the deepest, freshest tracks would have been his.

(In case you're not familiar with the timeline, the 2 remaining boys ran home, their sister's babysitter called her dad next door, and he came over and called 911. Cops arrived fairly fast after the 911 call. Kevin saw the cop cars go by his gf's house with their lights flashing and he ran to his car with his gf and followed them. He lost them along the way and turned into DR's driveway to turn around, but he went all the way up to the house and turned around and came back out according to him. So he would have been there well within your time limit.)

Once Kevin came forward in 2004 and told LE he had driven in there and turned around, they totally stopped looking for a car, and concentrated on someone local It seems to me to be because the tires on Kevin's car matched the tire prints they found in DR's driveway. IMO, that would be the only thing that would totally stop them from thinking a car had been used.

We need to find out what kind of car and what tires kevin was using.

 

[KeepHopeAlive]

Your analysis is fantastic, and I hope you'll consider emailing your analysis to the Sterns County LE. This case could have been a whole lot different if they had someone like you on the case from the very beginning

Agreed! The tire track and the footprint analysis is all new information (at least to me) that could be very helpful in this case. Let's hope this can lead to something! Thank you, Tracker!

 

[KeepHopeAlive]

Tracker, I wonder how this fits in with Kevin driving into that driveway all the way up to the house and coming back out - about a half hour to an hour right after the abduction happened? Is it possible those are his tire tracks? It's hard to believe he would have gone through there twice and not obliterated tire tracks there ahead of him. I would think the deepest, freshest tracks would have been his.

(In case you're not familiar with the timeline, the 2 remaining boys ran home, their sister's babysitter called her dad next door, and he came over and called 911. Cops arrived fairly fast after the 911 call. Kevin saw the cop cars go by his gf's house with their lights flashing and he ran to his car with his gf and followed them. He lost them along the way and turned into DR's driveway to turn around, but he went all the way up to the house and turned around and came back out according to him. So he would have been there well within your time limit.)

Once Kevin came forward in 2004 and told LE he had driven in there and turned around, they totally stopped looking for a car, and concentrated on someone local It seems to me to be because the tires on Kevin's car matched the tire prints they found in DR's driveway. IMO, that would be the only thing that would totally stop them from thinking a car had been used.

We need to find out what kind of car and what tires kevin was using.

I was wondering about this as well. I don't recall if a description of his vehicle was ever made public.

 

[human]

The tires that Tracker has referenced are too old to be on a car used in 1989. The rubber disintegrates. It checkers and cracks.

Kevin could not produce the tires unless he is a pack rat. Perhaps he kept tires from 1989 for some reason. Or maybe he is one of those people that puts their old cars out to pasture or up on concrete blocks forever to serve as a lawn ornament.

 

[ELOCsoul]

Tracker, I wonder how this fits in with Kevin driving into that driveway all the way up to the house and coming back out - about a half hour to an hour right after the abduction happened? Is it possible those are his tire tracks? It's hard to believe he would have gone through there twice and not obliterated tire tracks there ahead of him. I would think the deepest, freshest tracks would have been his.

(In case you're not familiar with the timeline, the 2 remaining boys ran home, their sister's babysitter called her dad next door, and he came over and called 911. Cops arrived fairly fast after the 911 call. Kevin saw the cop cars go by his gf's house with their lights flashing and he ran to his car with his gf and followed them. He lost them along the way and turned into DR's driveway to turn around, but he went all the way up to the house and turned around and came back out according to him. So he would have been there well within your time limit.)
Y
Once Kevin came forward in 2004 and told LE he had driven in there and turned around, they totally stopped looking for a car, and concentrated on someone local It seems to me to be because the tires on Kevin's car matched the tire prints they found in DR's driveway. IMO, that would be the only thing that would totally stop them from thinking a car had been used.

We need to find out what kind of car and what tires kevin was using.

According to Joy's website, Kevin was driving a silver / tan Oldsmobile Gran Prix, the year is not mentioned but it does say the car was mid-sized. Edit: I think that would actually be a Pontiac model rather than an Oldsmobile, or if it was really an Oldsmobile perhaps the model was a cutlass?

 

[shergal]

Kevin could have told LE what make and model car he was driving in 1989, and if he didn't know what tires were on it, I'm sure they could find out.

 

[human]

Sher, how could they match the tire prints? All tires make different prints. The tires you have may be the same brand as mine, but they would leave a different print because of the wear pattern.

 

[human]

Eloc, are you sure it is an Oldsmobile Gran prix? I cannot,find that model

 

[midwestphd]

I'm back. Getting caught up.

 

[Trackergd]

I am working from a larger version of the picture in the group of four seen on the blog linked in an earlier post.

The tire print is sharp on the edges and is narrow. Generally narrow tires are taller, which suggests something like a 50's or 60's pickup or a 50's vintage sedan.

The tire pattern that I can see and the type of tire print is an almost identical match for a vintage bias ply tire that can be seen on any number of website selling vintage tires. Coker Tire is one of them. Wider tires became popular in the late 70's and 80's with the advent of radial tires which became the norm with steel belts causing the method of construction to change.

In the picture I cannot see any foot prints on the far side of the tire print, nor do I see any foot prints sticking out from under the tire print. The foot print with the most force seems to be right next to the tire print. I have not had time to reproduce the shape of the print in wet sand to know what forces or twisting motions caused that type of print.

There is mounding on all sides of the print and a large ridge in the center. Without doing the wet sand test, I cannot tell if the large ridge in the center is the arch in a boot with a tall heel or two individual front half of a shoe or sneaker print. The mounding is from a twisting action, yet the print is flat in the center from what I can see.

For example, say you see a bug on the ground and you step on it with the front half of your shoe and you twist back and forth, and you are in soft dry dirt or dust, you would leave a ridge on the left and right side of the print you would create. (try it and see!) This print is flat and has a high ridge all the way around it, not just on the sides. Mud makes a print look larger than it is because it extrudes under the weight of the person, while dust and sand make the print appear smaller than it is because the sides fall into the print as there is no adhesion of the material.

While possible, it would be pure chance for someone to drive over that spot a few moments later and not drive over all the prints, and for sure not just over the perps prints. Plus making a turn in would produce two sets of tire prints, one from the front tire and one from the back until the car completed the turn and both tires aligned again. The picture is not good enough for me to read the tire track to see which way it was going in relation to the foot prints (yes, you can tell which direction a car was moving from the tire prints).

My attempts to discuss the matter with the Sheriff were rebuffed, so I am going to do my best to work with what I have, render an opinion and hope that someone with some authority reads it and takes it further.

Reading footprints was an art that was common up until the late 1800's and then all but died off (except with ranchers and Jack Kearney of the US border patrol) until the early 70's when interest picked up again based on a book by Tom Brown Jr. Now it is almost a staple for SAR in the most basic sense. They look for matching prints and use a very few of the indicators to determine speed, turns etc... They are not using all the pressure releases and indicators for evidence. For starters there can be up to 84 common pressure releases in a single print.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

If there are any better pictures of the prints (and they can be black and white) I would love to see them.

Sorry, but it's only text, no pictures.