ND ND - Thomas 'Tom' Bearson, 19, Fargo, 20 Sep 2014 #1

[raider]

My how the plot has thickened on here in the last few days. Too many things to respond to, to find all of the quotes.

Tweet cover-up theory - This still seems to be a popular assumption. In the beginning, I read the twitter accounts of the various people surrounding that night and immediately surmised that they weren't involved. Now, I'm not so sure. I still firmly believe that the tweets are not a cover up, it seems like it would take too much thought for a couple of drunk kids on a Friday night, but I'm not convinced anymore that these kids are not involved in some way. The number by the way, I figured from the beginning belongs to Tom. The 320 area code fits, and it could be assumed that because JW (also from the 320 area) is CM's roommate he wouldn't need to give him his own phone number.

CM also said in an interview that Tom and JW found a ride to his house after the tweet. Who knows who the ride was from, but if for some reason they had gotten themselves into trouble and needed to get out of it; is it not possible that the trouble either followed the car they were in or later asked the driver where they were dropped off?

Getting lost in Fargo - This also has to do with the cover up theory, but I can promise you that no matter how long you've lived in Fargo you can still get lost. I got lost, frequently, and if they were in an area they didn't know, a grid-like area like that can be confusing.

"Trap" - I touched on this a few days ago, and who knows if it's been answered again in the time I've been typing, but a "trap" or "trap house" is a place where you can go buy or use drugs. It's been term used for a long, long time but only recently has it gained steam in pop culture and specifically, Fargo. There was a news publication in Fargo in the last several weeks that actually ran a story on the wide-spread use of the term amongst teenagers in Fargo and I think it has morphed from not just drug use/purchase but also alcohol use/purchase. Now that you have the background on that, being the same age as these guys I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that the guy who referred to his house as a "trap" was not calling it a drug house. He was just trying to be cool. It's the same thing as saying "we're at my crib" or some other slang term. Were they using drugs at the house? No clue, maybe, maybe not. Some rumors say yes, some don't. Regardless, I wouldn't take his use of that word and turn it into some kind of drug ring conspiracy.

Why NDSU - While loads of kids from the St. Cloud area choose to attend SCSU, many more need to get away from home. It's hard to feel like you've got that sense of freedom that college provides when your parents are within driving distance of your dorm. Also, despite the fact that you can spit on the hospital from SCSU, from what I've heard NDSU has a much better nursing (Tom's major) program than SCSU. As for party schools vs. reputation - both are party schools, if one is more so and has a higher prevalence of drug use it's definitely SCSU.

Tom's dad not being a nice guy - Pretty sure I wouldn't be a nice guy if I dropped my kid off at college and someone murdered him a month later. The rumors I'm assuming you're referring to in regards to this have to do with possibly shaking down the kids involved and I don't know if there's any truth to that, but I would be willing to bet that any one of us in the same circumstance would be clawing for information any way we could get it.

KSTP saying the location of the body was through an interview - Have any other news sources made the same claim or claimed that it was through his cell phone pinging? They seemed pretty firm in the way they stated it, but if someone pointed LE to that location, no doubt LE would have someone in custody by now. Or at the very least have someone in mind and are just waiting to pinpoint the right person. I don't know if this is bad reporting or not, but it seems like the cat is out of the bag now that it was one of these two scenarios so I'm going to throw my support toward pinging. The Sartell "hotbed" of information is really pushing towards pinging.

Something else that occurs to me is that it was widely reported that Tom went to a "party" at CM's house and I'm wondering what defines a party. Initially I was thinking that there was no way something could have happened at that house because a party full of people couldn't keep quiet, but reading what various people have said on twitter and in the news it sounds like there were only maybe 3-5 guys present. In which case, it'd be a lot easier to keep what they know hush hush.

 

[IBsleuthin]

If someone directed the police to the RV store, that person has to know who/why/how...

If you add that to the fact the LE does not seem to be alerting the public - or college students - that they should be extra careful, I can only conclude that they know WHO and WHY but they are waiting for DNA evidence to positively identify...

I sure wish they would hurry up. My mind would like to stop thinking about it. More importantly, I am sure it will help the Bearson family in their grieving/healing process although I'm sure their heads are reeling & their grief is so very raw right now.

(BBM): Yah. The more I think about this statement the more I find it an oversight on the part of the news report. If someone knows where a dead body is well then really.

I didn't know where he was, did you? Sylvia Brown is dead so it couldn't have been her. AND if the news reported that and you and I had done this and were sitting there on the couch watching the news we would know who it was the police had spoken with.

Grrrr....I have laundry calling my name. Domestic responsibilities have trumped crime sleuthing once again.

 

[oswald111069]

If that news report were true(and they do have good reporters here don't they)and unless they are not telling the truth and don't want us to know that is was the pings from the phone. Maybe they must know who done it but don't want to arresst him yet because they are still lookin for acomplices and are still doing their investigating and interrogating.....some may be not talking and are not cooperating.....Maybe this would be a good case for waterboarding?

 

[Fargo7]

Welcome!

I will get right to the point.

What do you think?

I have no idea;

There is a rumor that I cannot back up but have heard from a few un-cited sources that he may have been dragged behind a vehicle. Again just talk with no back up , but it does make sense with what the police are saying.

If he was murdered in a house I do not think police would try to get the public help on locating a shoe/phone, its pretty easy for who ever did it to get ride of the evidence. However if they believe he was dragged his shoe/phone could have fallen out, who ever dragged him may not have the shoe or phone.

That being said something like this is un-heard of in Fargo. Sure there is usually about 1 murder per year but its always domestic, a few weeks ago two crack head cousin roommates got into a fight and one shot the other, before that an 70 year old man suffering from dementia shot his wife. Random violence is pretty much non-existent so the whole situation is strange.

Will keep you posted if I hear more.

 

[human]

Wow. That is really sickening, if true.

It could not have been all the way though. There is no way on that.

That does make some sense in the lack of any weapons that they are looking for

 

[oswald111069]

In one story I read it stated that a reporter thought they were searching aournd the RV lot with what looked like a metal detector.

Would they be using that to look for the phone?

I still don't know why they would have a ladder truck out there also.

With the shoe being missing I'd think that they would search inside all the RV's in case the shoe was in there.

Since they didn't it only causes me to conclude that the murder was from something else and there was no need to check the RVs: maybe the dragging mentioned in previous post.

 

[Rocco]

(BBM): Yah. The more I think about this statement the more I find it an oversight on the part of the news report. If someone knows where a dead body is well then really.

I didn't know where he was, did you? Sylvia Brown is dead so it couldn't have been her. AND if the news reported that and you and I had done this and were sitting there on the couch watching the news we would know who it was the police had spoken with.

Grrrr....I have laundry calling my name. Domestic responsibilities have trumped crime sleuthing once again.

Put on your rodent listening ears, Miss Golden Gopher.

He states " it was information in an interview with someone that led them to TB's body". That doesn't necessarily mean someone said "He's at the RV lot".

It could be that when being interviewed, the person was asked if they knew of any places that TB hung out and that person said "I've heard he's been known to hang out at that RV buisness in Moorhead", so they checked there.

 

[DonnaParker]

Originally posted by raider

Getting lost in Fargo - This also has to do with the cover up theory, but I can promise you that no matter how long you've lived in Fargo you can still get lost. I got lost, frequently, and if they were in an area they didn't know, a grid-like area like that can be confusing.

Hi raider - I really enjoyed your post above & only snipped it to save for room & to address this one point since I pretty much agree with everything else you said.

I'm sure there are life long residents of Fargo that get lost all the time but this isn't the whole of Fargo. TB's dorm was only 6 blocks from his destination. That 6 block area is easy to navigate and clearly marked with street signs.

If I started at Reed/Johnson & was given a street address 6 blocks away I can pretty much guarantee you I would NOT get lost & if for some bizarre reason I did, I'm pretty sure if I wouldn't need someone to pick me up & drive me to that destination - just a little direction. It's not a difficult grid IMO.

Who knows - maybe I'm nuts - but I still can't get past that part of the tweet. It makes my hinky meter go off even though I've tried to rationalize that part of it.

 

[human]

The RV business owned by some elderly people?

I know the msn camps are filled with RV's. Maybe some kind of hook up with RV's and criminals? Not the owners, but people buying them in big lots?

 

[A Concerned Parent]

In one story I read it stated that a reporter thought they were searching aournd the RV lot with what looked like a metal detector.

Would they be using that to look for the phone?

I still don't know why they would have a ladder truck out there also.

With the shoe being missing I'd think that they would search inside all the RV's in case the shoe was in there.

Since they didn't it only causes me to conclude that the murder was from something else and there was no need to check the RVs: maybe the dragging mentioned in previous post.

Just a thought, but maybe the ladder truck was being used to see more from an aerial perspective, see from above what you can't necessarily see by walking the ground or could easily overlook. Maybe car tracks, human tracks in grass or just looking to see if they could spot the shoe, phone, or other missing clues in the area that looks out of place.

 

[nltd777]

FINE, let's boil some peanuts then.

You folks locally and those from Sartell, how about I urge you to share what you know. By now the whole area of Sartell is hopping with information. I'd call my ex-brother in-law who lives there but, well...we haven't spoken in 25 years and I don't want to start now.

So, it's slow, nothing new...ball's in your court.

There are alot of rumors flying around Sartell right now. There has been since day 1. Some seem reasonable and some seem outlandish.
One thing I have heard continually is that his killer may have been someone from Sartell. TB and JW are not the only students from Sartell who are enrolled at NDSU. There are quite a few actually. Some were in Fargo that weekend and some had already come home. I know alot of people were brought in by LE.
I heard alot of these kids had hired lawyers immediately, that of course doesn't mean anyone is guilty.

My gut feeling is that LE has a pretty good idea what happened, but are trying to gather all the evidence they can before making or announcing an arrest.

 

[Rocco]

There are alot of rumors flying around Sartell right now. There has been since day 1. Some seem reasonable and some seem outlandish.
One thing I have heard continually is that his killer may have been someone from Sartell. TB and JW are not the only students from Sartell who are enrolled at NDSU. There are quite a few actually. Some were in Fargo that weekend and some had already come home. I know alot of people were brought in by LE.
I heard alot of these kids had hired lawyers immediately, that of course doesn't mean anyone is guilty.

My gut feeling is that LE has a pretty good idea what happened, but are trying to gather all the evidence they can before making or announcing an arrest.

I know it's always said that hiring an attorney means nothing and legal experts will tell you that but..................

If they were hired by these kids, I don't think it's because lawyers are inexpensive, so what the heck.

I agree that LE has a good idea of exactly what happened.

 

[raider]

Hi raider - I really enjoyed your post above & only snipped it to save for room & to address this one point since I pretty much agree with everything else you said.

I'm sure there are life long residents of Fargo that get lost all the time but this isn't the whole of Fargo. TB's dorm was only 6 blocks from his destination. That 6 block area is easy to navigate and clearly marked with street signs.

If I started at Reed/Johnson & was given a street address 6 blocks away I can pretty much guarantee you I would NOT get lost & if for some bizarre reason I did, I'm pretty sure if I wouldn't need someone to pick me up & drive me to that destination - just a little direction. It's not a difficult grid IMO.

Who knows - maybe I'm nuts - but I still can't get past that part of the tweet. It makes my hinky meter go off even though I've tried to rationalize that part of it.

Very true, that area is easy to navigate, and it would be reasonable to assume they could find their way between the two aside from one detail we're missing. Unless it has been made public and I totally missed it, we have no idea where they were when that tweet was sent. Obviously JW should be able to find his own house from campus and I don't think 6 blocks is far enough that you'd be asking for a ride either. So I would assume they either walked or got a ride somewhere, and that could be anywhere (possibly Moorhead, if it was a ride) and couldn't find their way back. Which, if you think about it could add some weight to them running into trouble.

At this point, all of the abstract theories are driving me a little nuts. So many seem plausible and others I just want to shake people and wish they could step into the mind of a 20-year old for a minute. That being said, based on the information I've heard, some credible and some not, there is one scenario that just keeps gnawing at me. Let's say Tom and JW are at Tom's dorm or CM's house and they get a ride to a shady location in Moorhead. I'm going to say ride because I don't think they'd walk that far and if they did they could probably find their way back unless it was too dark. Keep that in mind by the way, a lot harder to retrace your steps in the dark. Wherever they are they run into trouble and their ride to the shady location is no longer their ride back. They find a ride back and get followed. When Tom leaves he gets ambushed and they leave him at the RV site on their way back to their dumpy house in dumpsville.

I probably won't write much beyond this point because there is so much information swirling around this whole thing has become a spiderweb and I have a feeling LE is pretty close to solving this thing. At this point I just want to sit back and watch some losers get thrown in jail for the rest of their lives. However, based on the things I've heard and my own personal experience in that town, I would not be surprised to find out if it's something along those lines, but that's only if you follow the tweet trail. There are two other possibilities that seem pretty possible and I don't have the energy to type them out, but if there was any significance at all to that tweet in relation to Tom's death I don't think it's unreasonable at all to assume that they were in fact lost and not safe.

 

[IBsleuthin]

There are alot of rumors flying around Sartell right now. There has been since day 1. Some seem reasonable and some seem outlandish.
One thing I have heard continually is that his killer may have been someone from Sartell. TB and JW are not the only students from Sartell who are enrolled at NDSU. There are quite a few actually. Some were in Fargo that weekend and some had already come home. I know alot of people were brought in by LE.
I heard alot of these kids had hired lawyers immediately, that of course doesn't mean anyone is guilty.

My gut feeling is that LE has a pretty good idea what happened, but are trying to gather all the evidence they can before making or announcing an arrest.

(BBM)
This might actually get interesting in the next week. Thank you so much for this post. I was just barely hanging on by a thread. (get it, forum pun). On a serious note, I have that problem with assuming and had not factored in some little partier coming up to Fargo for the weekend. Always something.

 

[IBsleuthin]

You know, it just really makes me :furious: to think some little ropeller:head in that age group is so pompous and arrogant as to think they can actually kill someone and just not say anything about it.

Wow that make me :steamed:

Probably making me even more angry is the idea that the little pukes think they might be able to lawyer up and get out of it. They can all say thank you tonight that I'm not in charge of the prosecution. I would show no mercy.

 

[Jacie Estes]

If they were going to a specific place to make a buy and had never been there before, getting lost is understandable. If it were a part of town that they were not comfortable in, then the tweet, 'we're gonna die' could just be the way of saying they were scared.

Very true, that area is easy to navigate, and it would be reasonable to assume they could find their way between the two aside from one detail we're missing. Unless it has been made public and I totally missed it, we have no idea where they were when that tweet was sent. Obviously JW should be able to find his own house from campus and I don't think 6 blocks is far enough that you'd be asking for a ride either. So I would assume they either walked or got a ride somewhere, and that could be anywhere (possibly Moorhead, if it was a ride) and couldn't find their way back. Which, if you think about it could add some weight to them running into trouble.

At this point, all of the abstract theories are driving me a little nuts. So many seem plausible and others I just want to shake people and wish they could step into the mind of a 20-year old for a minute. That being said, based on the information I've heard, some credible and some not, there is one scenario that just keeps gnawing at me. Let's say Tom and JW are at Tom's dorm or CM's house and they get a ride to a shady location in Moorhead. I'm going to say ride because I don't think they'd walk that far and if they did they could probably find their way back unless it was too dark. Keep that in mind by the way, a lot harder to retrace your steps in the dark. Wherever they are they run into trouble and their ride to the shady location is no longer their ride back. They find a ride back and get followed. When Tom leaves he gets ambushed and they leave him at the RV site on their way back to their dumpy house in dumpsville.

I probably won't write much beyond this point because there is so much information swirling around this whole thing has become a spiderweb and I have a feeling LE is pretty close to solving this thing. At this point I just want to sit back and watch some losers get thrown in jail for the rest of their lives. However, based on the things I've heard and my own personal experience in that town, I would not be surprised to find out if it's something along those lines, but that's only if you follow the tweet trail. There are two other possibilities that seem pretty possible and I don't have the energy to type them out, but if there was any significance at all to that tweet in relation to Tom's death I don't think it's unreasonable at all to assume that they were in fact lost and not safe.

 

[Jacie Estes]

The ladder truck could be used to look at the tops of larger RVs. Cheaper than a helicopter.

In one story I read it stated that a reporter thought they were searching aournd the RV lot with what looked like a metal detector.

Would they be using that to look for the phone?

I still don't know why they would have a ladder truck out there also.

With the shoe being missing I'd think that they would search inside all the RV's in case the shoe was in there.

Since they didn't it only causes me to conclude that the murder was from something else and there was no need to check the RVs: maybe the dragging mentioned in previous post.

 

[oswald111069]

Hi raider - I really enjoyed your post above & only snipped it to save for room & to address this one point since I pretty much agree with everything else you said.

I'm sure there are life long residents of Fargo that get lost all the time but this isn't the whole of Fargo. TB's dorm was only 6 blocks from his destination. That 6 block area is easy to navigate and clearly marked with street signs.

If I started at Reed/Johnson & was given a street address 6 blocks away I can pretty much guarantee you I would NOT get lost & if for some bizarre reason I did, I'm pretty sure if I wouldn't need someone to pick me up & drive me to that destination - just a little direction. It's not a difficult grid IMO.

Who knows - maybe I'm nuts - but I still can't get past that part of the tweet. It makes my hinky meter go off even though I've tried to rationalize that part of it.

Maybe the tweet was some kind of code.
Jake uses another phone that is not his(320 phone) to have CM call him. CM tweets back that they are all sloshed and then says that after I call you and get your address text me. If he called back using 320 number than why have Jake text at all. He could have told him after he called on the 320 number. Why does CM want Jake to text him. Don't make sense.
If jake was texting him back then why didn't he call CM on his own phone instead of the 320 phone in the first place?
Who does this 320 phone belong to....Jake or Tom? or another person?

 

[human]

Hiring lawyers?

A lawyer does not work for free and they want retainers. Like in the thousands of dollars.

 

[onamission]

I know it's always said that hiring an attorney means nothing and legal experts will tell you that but..................

If they were hired by these kids, I don't think it's because lawyers are inexpensive, so what the heck.

I agree that LE has a good idea of exactly what happened.

I agree with you, LE knows what happened. I have to believe they are dotting their i's and crossing their t's so that when they do make an arrest(s) they will have enough evidence to charge them rather than detain them (under suspicion) for questioning. They can only detain someone for so long, if they don't file charges within a certain time frame they will have to release them. Once they have them they want to charge them.