MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #6

[shergal]

It sounds like the St. Paul police didn't bother notifying the Stearns County sheriff on that one, but notified media instead. It does sound like Weiss.

 

[Mom who cares]

I have nothing to add except I admire all of you in your relentless pursuit to find Jacob. You are amazing. God Speed. I read your posts every day.

 

[human]

We KNOW that DR has huge connections to St. John's and the church in general. Does anyone know if he ever was an altar boy?

 

[ELOCsoul]

This exchange is an excerpt from Sex Offender Issues, an Interview with Patty Wetterling-June 27, 2008-From the book "Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions" The interview is conducted by Richard Wright.
Wright: As you know, the media has a major impact on all of these stories. There are times when the media can report on sexual offending in a very thoughtful way, in a very deliberate way, and there are times when they can be very sensational. Can you think of examples from your experience where the media dealt very well with Jacob's disappearance or in some cases where they dealt very poorly with it?

Wetterling: We had one TV station which did a series. It was a 5-night series on the problem, the victims, the perpetrators, the hopes. Actually it might have had one part on solutions or treatments and the hope. They really took time to show the depth of it. It was really, really well done and very thoughtful. We did a lot of shows on the national level, too, that were hour-long programs, that I thought delved into the reality that we as families are facing and the challenges. My basic statement for years has been somebody knows who took Jacob, somebody did this and you know, somebody knows. They may have a piece of information that we still need. We have got to find the man who took Jacob. There is somebody out there who steals kids. He's got my son. Did he do it again? I don't know.

I'm not soft on these guys, but I just know that they're not all the same. They're not all the same and we can't treat them as such. There was one time when a man was arrested in St. Paul. My mother called, we were all up at the lake, and she said, "There's a break in your case." I said, "I don't think so. I've talked to the sheriff's department. They know where we are and they haven't called." She said, "Well they've been promoting it all day on TV. There's a break in your case. Watch the news tonight." So we did.

This man was arrested in St. Paul and they said that he had knowledge of Jacob's kidnapping. The media said that when the police did a search they found *advertiser censored*. They found a digital camera. They found movies. They found clothing. They found a container which appeared to be a container with testicles. They said that the suspect had been involved in a search for Jacob done at Fort Snelling. I'm sitting there with kids and I'm like, "What the hell?" I was livid. I was livid, because, first of all, that our sheriffs didn't know about it. The sheriff didn't call because he didn't know about this media report.

The St. Paul police officer didn't seal the search warrants. The reporter didn't verify their facts. The testicles were dog testicles. I was really worried about my other son. He wasn't with us; he was staying with a friend. I was so scared Trevor was going to watch and see that report, and what would Trevor think? I didn't sleep for days.

It was absolutely glamorizing the horrible act that could have happened. We went through 6 months of anxiety because the man who had been arrested had a boy's jock strap. We went through 6 months of waiting for DNA. Today they act like you get DNA back in 10 minutes or in an hour. We waited 6 months, and that's still not uncommon


I'm wondering if the Fort Snelling comment is in reference to Weiss but also curious that the sheriff's dept was unaware of this

Yep, that is David Paul Weiss. Also - I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my original post about Weiss - but I want to point out that he had a handgun violation in addition to the charges of molesting young boy(s).

 

[cGorg]

Yep, that is David Paul Weiss. Also - I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my original post about Weiss - but I want to point out that he had a handgun violation in addition to the charges of molesting young boy(s).

His obituary appears so benign....as do alot of these perps....like Seitz or Bahner or Wollmering

 

[PonderingU]

Just in the news (in MN), and the latter link was a response shortly after. I know this doesent have any connection to JW, but never the less..it is someone to keep in the back of your mind if you follow other cases in MN. Ya never know! If posting these links are not appropriate to post here, then by all means someone can delete them.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/di...sight-for-years-retired-quietly-to-new-prague

http://thecatholicspirit.com/archdi...om+(Latest+Content+from+TheCatholicSpirit.com)

 

[Trackergd]

I graduated from Catholic High School. I can tell you from first hand experience, the church will lean on the faithful in LE to "sweep things under the rug" or "turn a blind eye" It has been going on for many years. They can apply a lot of pressure and guilt upon an individual.

An example of how they insulates children from the monsters is abundantly clear when you consider St. John Vianney Center is located directly across the road from Bishop Shanahan High School.

http://www.sjvcenter.org/index.php

You could not put the two closer together if you tried, with the exception of the same room.

In my personal opinion, it violates the law putting sex offenders in proximity to school children, yet here it is, right in plain sight and not a word is uttered in protest.

A bitter point with me.

 

[cGorg]

Just in the news (in MN), and the latter link was a response shortly after. I know this doesent have any connection to JW, but never the less..it is someone to keep in the back of your mind if you follow other cases in MN. Ya never know! If posting these links are not appropriate to post here, then by all means someone can delete them.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/di...sight-for-years-retired-quietly-to-new-prague

http://thecatholicspirit.com/archdi...om+(Latest+Content+from+TheCatholicSpirit.com)

PonderU....I read thru those links.....disturbing

 

[cGorg]

I graduated from Catholic High School. I can tell you from first hand experience, the church will lean on the faithful in LE to "sweep things under the rug" or "turn a blind eye" It has been going on for many years. They can apply a lot of pressure and guilt upon an individual.

An example of how they insulates children from the monsters is abundantly clear when you consider St. John Vianney Center is located directly across the road from Bishop Shanahan High School.

http://www.sjvcenter.org/index.php

You could not put the two closer together if you tried, with the exception of the same room.

In my personal opinion, it violates the law putting sex offenders in proximity to school children, yet here it is, right in plain sight and not a word is uttered in protest.

A bitter point with me.

Trackergd,

Are you still a practicing Catholic?

I read in our local newspaper last week that MN will be releasing sex offenders from Moose Lake into a facility adjacent to a neighborhood....if heaven forbid, something happens to a child, who is liable for this?

 

[Trackergd]

Trackergd,

Are you still a practicing Catholic?

I read in our local newspaper last week that MN will be releasing sex offenders from Moose Lake into a facility adjacent to a neighborhood....if heaven forbid, something happens to a child, who is liable for this?

No. I have returned to my Native American faith. I am pleased for the education from a prestigious Catholic High School even though I was in constant conflict with the religion teachers. Documented miracles do occur...I graduated.

 

[shergal]

Just in the news (in MN), and the latter link was a response shortly after. I know this doesent have any connection to JW, but never the less..it is someone to keep in the back of your mind if you follow other cases in MN. Ya never know! If posting these links are not appropriate to post here, then by all means someone can delete them.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/di...sight-for-years-retired-quietly-to-new-prague

http://thecatholicspirit.com/archdi...om+(Latest+Content+from+TheCatholicSpirit.com)

I'm glad MPR is looking into all this. Those bishops' secret files all need to be opened and gone through.

That Fr. James Porter who is mentioned in the MPR article was questioned in regard to Jacob's abduction. I've posted here about him before:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/porter/index_1.html
...this is a small excerpt mentioning Jacob from Chapter 6: "In November 1989, Fitzpatrick uncovered a newspaper obituary for his quarrys father. It named James Porter as a Minnesota resident, and a computer check of motor vehicle registrations traced him to Oakdale. Porters telephone number was listed in the local directory, but Fitzpatrick made other calls first, to the Oakdale Police Department and Washington Countys Department of Social Services, naming Porter as a lifelong threat to children. FBI agents visited Porters home in December 1989, acting on a tip from Oakdale police, and questioned him about the October 22 disappearance of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling from St. Joseph, Minnesota. Porter denied any knowledge of the kidnapping (still unsolved), but admitted molesting 30 or 40 children during his years as a priest."

 

[Jbrown324320]

I think MPR has more clout and research devices than we likely do. I hope they take the priest scandal even further and try to link it to JW and JG disappearances. Maybe we can contact MPR to see if they can help connect the dots.
Tracker, I was raised Catholic too. After I studied a little about other religions, I think the Native Americans had the best faith system pertaining to the future of people, nature and the planet. I hope it can come back from almost being destroyed by Catholics and other faiths.

 

[shergal]

Good idea to contact MPR, those 3 writers have their names and links right at the top of the article. When you click on their names, it shows other articles they have written on the same subject.

 

[Jbrown324320]

I emailed one of the authors. I will let you know if I get a response.

 

[human]

I know i have discussed this before, but it concerns and baffles me that DR insists that students meet with him alone to do make up lessons if they have missed.

Nobody does that anymore. Sounds totally bizarre to me.

And he does all kinds of extracurricular things with kids as well as the private music lessons and the other lessons for young children outside of the school day. Why? A single man who does not need the money. Nope. Makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[cGorg]

I think MPR has more clout and research devices than we likely do. I hope they take the priest scandal even further and try to link it to JW and JG disappearances. Maybe we can contact MPR to see if they can help connect the dots.

snipped by me

Jbrown....do you have any speculations of a possible link between JW + JG? Obviously St John's is a link but what's the link between an 11 year old abducted in 1989 and a 20 year old disappearing in 2002?
As far as a pedophile is concerned, the age groups are of 2 different categories. I have perused JG's case via the 'findjoshua' website and know that he was searching the net regarding sexual abuse by SJ's priests.....was his research found out + unwelcome? JG fits the physical profile of all of the other young men found in the river......JW seems an anamoly when contrasted with this group.....maybe JG + JW are a separate group and the other young men another thing altogether?

 

[cGorg]

One other thing regarding 'connecting the dots'....this is simply an analogy....in the days prior to the Titanic sinking, the wireless radio operator received many many ice warnings from various ships in the area. As wireless was a new invention and only a convenience, the passengers personal messages trumped any messages from other ships. The wireless operator never transmitted the ice warnings to the captain. Had these messages been forwarded to the bridge and plotted on their course they would have seen that they were entering a field of icebergs. My point being: there's a long sequence of messages on WS...lots of valuable 'dots' of information....is there any way to compile this information so that rather than going back in previous threads to retrieve one piece of information....could there be a 'clearinghouse' of organized info? I ask because it appears to me that this forum is simply a chronological sequence of postings(valuable though they may be) but nothing that allows posters to access basic information already researched + documented. For example, their could be a category of 'suspects' or maps or theories, timeline, etc. Maybe it's not possible on this forum and some of you posters with great computer skills may have an answer....but was just thinking that if all of the 'dots' were arranged to date, maybe a picture would start to emerge.....just an idea for consideration.

 

[shergal]

One other thing regarding 'connecting the dots'....this is simply an analogy....in the days prior to the Titanic sinking, the wireless radio operator received many many ice warnings from various ships in the area. As wireless was a new invention and only a convenience, the passengers personal messages trumped any messages from other ships. The wireless operator never transmitted the ice warnings to the captain. Had these messages been forwarded to the bridge and plotted on their course they would have seen that they were entering a field of icebergs. My point being: there's a long sequence of messages on WS...lots of valuable 'dots' of information....is there any way to compile this information so that rather than going back in previous threads to retrieve one piece of information....could there be a 'clearinghouse' of organized info? I ask because it appears to me that this forum is simply a chronological sequence of postings(valuable though they may be) but nothing that allows posters to access basic information already researched + documented. For example, their could be a category of 'suspects' or maps or theories, timeline, etc. Maybe it's not possible on this forum and some of you posters with great computer skills may have an answer....but was just thinking that if all of the 'dots' were arranged to date, maybe a picture would start to emerge.....just an idea for consideration.

If we had our own forum for Jacob, that could be done. Other cases with their own forums have pinned links at the top; one with all the photos from the case, one with news articles - where you can just read updates - but not post, one with maps, etc. But the mods have never given us our own forum, Jacob is just lumped in with all the other "missing from the 1980's". It has been asked on here from time to time if we could have our own forum, but it has never been granted. Wouldn't hurt to ask again, though.

I realize there are tons of cases on WS, and it's not always feasible to have a separate forum for each one, but we do have several threads and lots of info, and it doesn't appear to be a case that's going away anytime soon. You could also have dedicated threads then also, like a thread for each suspect, etc.

 

[tlcya]

One other thing regarding 'connecting the dots'....this is simply an analogy....in the days prior to the Titanic sinking, the wireless radio operator received many many ice warnings from various ships in the area. As wireless was a new invention and only a convenience, the passengers personal messages trumped any messages from other ships. The wireless operator never transmitted the ice warnings to the captain. Had these messages been forwarded to the bridge and plotted on their course they would have seen that they were entering a field of icebergs. My point being: there's a long sequence of messages on WS...lots of valuable 'dots' of information....is there any way to compile this information so that rather than going back in previous threads to retrieve one piece of information....could there be a 'clearinghouse' of organized info? I ask because it appears to me that this forum is simply a chronological sequence of postings(valuable though they may be) but nothing that allows posters to access basic information already researched + documented. For example, their could be a category of 'suspects' or maps or theories, timeline, etc. Maybe it's not possible on this forum and some of you posters with great computer skills may have an answer....but was just thinking that if all of the 'dots' were arranged to date, maybe a picture would start to emerge.....just an idea for consideration.

While a dedicated forum is the easiest way. It is possible for members to make use of the site to catalog and separate information pertaining to a case without that. If you want a media thread, create one. if it needs moved to another area that can be done. If you want a search (SARS) or map discussion and tracking area, then create one.

As long as each thread devoted to this case remembers to keep the discussion within TOS you can segment this case out a bit without it having its own dedicated forum. People following this case can place links to map threads, media threads etc in their signatures for ease of themselves and other case followers.

 

[bessie]

Tlcya is right. A good start is a non-discussion thread to compile links to media articles. If done correctly, it becomes a reading file where anyone can scroll through and read relevant snips in chronological order. Timelines can be included in this thread, as well.

Another non-discussion thread can be used to post maps and photos, if they exist. The threads are building blocks to a forum, and for this case, they would go in this sub-forum.

Missing but not forgotten Timeline Forum and Media Links - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community



If anyone in interested in taking on the project, and you need help getting a thread started, let me or one of the other mods know, and we'll be glad to lend a hand.