GUILTY MN - Laura Schwendemann, 18, Kensington, 14 Oct 2015

[shefner]

If they have the car and the last guy who saw her, they have quite a bit. Praying that she can be found and that somehow, she is safe.

I am thinking that it surely shouldn't be too tough to find the blue house. Hopefully this guy is not making things up. Wish we had some surveillance footage. Sometimes that will trigger something for people.

 

[Yoda1-4me]

What I would like to better understand is the idea of the mystery photo. Many seem to be going on an assumption that there is one involved, but I have yet to see this in publication. I wondered if there's a particular reason why a photo that hasn't been confirmed to exist is the most popular common theory regarding the origin of the evidence/tip spurring the search for the statue and house? I wondered if there is information known only to a few, that has shaped the public conversation from the backside, or if people have simply assumed the colorful description of the location being searched for equals an existing mystery photo tied to the location.

I assumed a person driving in the area called in and said they passed the car somewhere near a blue house and statue. If a tipster had done a lot of driving, particularly over a wide area, after dark, and wasn't prepared to remember the location of someone they saw, later on they would likely describe a memorable land mark seen close to the time they saw the missing individual/vehicle.

I hope the two teenaged girls that have recently come up missing in Minnesota appear soon, safe and sound.

 

[Mountain Misst]

The car has been located and the male with her has been speaking with investigators, but authorities have not revealed his identity or said what role he may have had in Schwendemann’s disappearance, if any. Investigators have said they do not believe Schwendemann “left voluntarily.”

http://www.startribune.com/minn-col...-car-found-person-with-her-talking/336838851/

 

[ClaireNC]

From the article posted above, it says they believe the car traveled past the blue house with a statue. I don't remember seeing it worded that way before.

Also, investigators want help locating a home where they believe the car traveled past. It’s described as blue with a 3-foot-tall statue of a boy, with blue clothing and a red hat, positioned at the end of the home’s driveway.
http://www.startribune.com/minn-col...-car-found-person-with-her-talking/336838851/

 

[katydid23]

From the article posted above, it says they believe the car traveled past the blue house with a statue. I don't remember seeing it worded that way before.

Also, investigators want help locating a home where they believe the car traveled past. It’s described as blue with a 3-foot-tall statue of a boy, with blue clothing and a red hat, positioned at the end of the home’s driveway.
http://www.startribune.com/minn-col...-car-found-person-with-her-talking/336838851/

That is new wording, I believe.

And it seems very odd because according to Peanut and Company, to get to that home one needs to drive up a long road. It is not something you just pass on a busy main road, from what I understand.

 

[ClaireNC]

That is new wording, I believe.

And it seems very odd because according to Peanut and Company, to get to that home one needs to drive up a long road. It is not something you just pass on a busy main road, from what I understand.

We don't know if Peanut and Company found the right house.

 

[TravelingBug]

We don't know if Peanut and Company found the right house.

Certainly true.

But would also seem surprising there are two blue houses with very similar statues - both quite specific and of a boy wearing blue and a hat that is possibly reddish in a relatively small (and not heavily populated) area I'd think?

Though since this was likely at night given when she was last seen it could mean all colours are slightly off - especially since aside from it presumably being dark, they also were likely relayed by someone who was in distress if they were being take against their will or else possibly seeing it via some other means (an image or something) which could also impact accuracy I'd think.

 

[TravelingBug]

What I would like to better understand is the idea of the mystery photo. Many seem to be going on an assumption that there is one involved, but I have yet to see this in publication. I wondered if there's a particular reason why a photo that hasn't been confirmed to exist is the most popular common theory regarding the origin of the evidence/tip spurring the search for the statue and house? I wondered if there is information known only to a few, that has shaped the public conversation from the backside, or if people have simply assumed the colorful description of the location being searched for equals an existing mystery photo tied to the location.

I assumed a person driving in the area called in and said they passed the car somewhere near a blue house and statue. If a tipster had done a lot of driving, particularly over a wide area, after dark, and wasn't prepared to remember the location of someone they saw, later on they would likely describe a memorable land mark seen close to the time they saw the missing individual/vehicle.

I hope the two teenaged girls that have recently come up missing in Minnesota appear soon, safe and sound.

Seems like if that were the case it'd be unlikely they'd remember an otherwise rather non-descript car that's in one of the most common colours on the road though, and where they saw it?

 

[TravelingBug]

I wonder if Laura could have gotten access to a phone at some point and relayed that (by message or voice) about the house/statue but not had the ability to say more because someone caught her or something?

And/or if she had been drugged or had her eyes covered and she either didn't see much or didn't see anything else overly memorable?

Therefore not having perspective of where she was in relation to where they started (or just in general?) to know where she'd been driven and gave the best or last landmark she could?

 

[katydid23]

We don't know if Peanut and Company found the right house.

That's true. But I still believe that the house and statue is probably somewhat remote and hidden from most drivers. Because if it was visible on a main road, everyone would have instantly known where it was. And I think LE had that request for tip for awhile.

 

[Unsolved]

Which means Peanut and his/father very likely correctly ID'd the correct blue house - as that's clearly a little boy statue.

Can there really be TWO blue houses with little boy (wearing blue clothes with a hat) statues in a very limited area?

Seems really unlikely that's not the house in question...

ITA - I had to lighten up Peanuts picture of the statue for my old eyes to see it, and think the Peanut clan nailed it (JMO):

The only other thing I can think of is if someone has an old-style "lawn jockey" at the entrance of their drive - someone who didn't know the name might say it was a statue of a boy wearing a hat:

 

[peanut411]

That's true. But I still believe that the house and statue is probably somewhat remote and hidden from most drivers. Because if it was visible on a main road, everyone would have instantly known where it was. And I think LE had that request for tip for awhile.

Yes, exactly. That's why I also tried to find blue houses down dead end streets which often end in farms or cabins along a lake. We have lots of lakes here.
We haven't heard a boo about the property we found. Maybe the guy gave them just a little more info that they haven't released yet that crosses this property off the checklist.
It's getting colder this week. Harvest is winding down and gun season starts in 2 weeks. Praying something significant is found before the snow starts to fly.

 

[Ontario Mom]

From the description given by LE it sounds like your common, run of the mill garden gnome, available at any statuary/garden center or home improvement store. There could be 50 blue homes in the area with one of those creepy little gnomes at the end of the drive. It's really not much to go on.

 

[TravelingBug]

Finally something new-ish (or at least some clarification about the blue house/statue bit)!!!!

Authorities were able to speak with the man.

"We've had conversations with him and received some information from those conversations," said Douglas County Sheriff Troy Wolbersen.

According to Sheriff Wolbersen, the man is not a person of interest.

(I'd guess the not a POI quite likely has a silent "yet" after it...)

It is believed the pair traveled by a blue house with a statue of a boy, approximately three feet tall, with blue clothing and a red hat, near the end of a driveway somewhere in the area. Investigators are trying to pinpoint the location of the blue house with the statue.

"As far as the blue house with a statue, that's a reference point./ That's a piece of information that we've gotten through interviews and we don't believe it's connected to her actual disappearance, but we think it may be helpful in a location where some of the areas she was in that night," Sheriff Wolbersen said.

http://www.valleynewslive.com/home/...an-last-seen-with-missing-teen-336838051.html

 

[TravelingBug]

Regarding the difficulty of the search both based on distance, vastness, and terrain (and likely why LE is so desperate to ID the house and car locations)

Although obviously all of it isn't like this guy's property, still true for a lot.

"A week ago today I was driving my four-wheeler down the road from my yard and I saw a deputy coming out of my 40-acre pine grove," said Fred Capp of Orange Township.

Capp said there have been several searches near his property since then.

"Our 40 acres of pines, you can't go 10 feet in there it's so difficult to see. We don't even try to hunt deer in there because it's just too thick. If somebody would be in that, it would be nearly impossible to see them in that thick of a cover," Capp said.

Sheriff Wolbersen said it has been challenging searching such a large area. "It's several townships in our county and several townships in Pope County that we're looking at specifically. So as far as acreage, that's thousands of acres of land that we're talking about," he said.

http://www.valleynewslive.com/home/...an-last-seen-with-missing-teen-336838051.html

 

[margarita25]

A case map could be helpful here if somebody has the time and ability to make one.

Points for map:

Holiday gas station
Areas searched by LE
Peanut house, if allowed via TOS.
Anything else?

 

[TravelingBug]

They held a vigil for Laura last night.

And a few days ago a "keep your porch light on for Laura" site was started and her mom is posting there.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682142012061978/permalink/1682968218646024/

Residents of 18-year-old Laura Schwendemann’s hometown gathered Sunday for a vigil nearly two weeks after she was last seen.

The vigil was held along Lake Minnewaska in Starbuck, the town that was close to Schwendemann’s heart and where she grew up.

Purple ribbons were strung up all over downtown, representing Schwendemann 's favorite color and a community's devotion to someone who is much more than a missing person to them.

"We do care; Laura is a part of us as she is a part of them," Lori Vaadeland, of Starbuck, said.

Schwendemann's parents stood silently during the vigil, preferring others speak for them, including Amy Kluver.

"If you have kids and they're missing, I just think about my own kids," Kluver said.

Luminaries of love lined the path to a ceremony fraught with wind and worry. Residents reflected on Schwendemann's curious disappearance that brought hundreds together.

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S3944975.shtml?cat=1

 

[mikkismom]

Car in disappearance of U of M-Morris student found

http://kfgo.com/news/articles/2015/oct/26/car-in-disappearance-of-u-of-m-morris-student-found/

 

[ohhieliz]

She could have sent someone the photo via snapchat, and they're just going by that persons memory. They wouldn't have the picture anymore, because it disappears.

 

[katydid23]

From the description given by LE it sounds like your common, run of the mill garden gnome, available at any statuary/garden center or home improvement store. There could be 50 blue homes in the area with one of those creepy little gnomes at the end of the drive. It's really not much to go on.

I don't think the decryption sounds like a garden gnome. I think LE would have specified 'gnome' as opposed to 'boy', JMO.