Remains found confirmed as Jacob Wetterling/Suspect led LE to Remains #2

[Mariposa]

This has more info on the excavation site: http://www.startribune.com/finding-jacob-the-final-push/393005001/

 

[DanKyle]

I respectfully strongly disagree. I believe the Stearns Co Sheriff bungled this case from day 1 and continue to do so. Minnesotans should be OUTRAGED and demand better from their elected and appointed officials.

AS RECENTLY AS LAST WEEK they couldn't even get Jacob Wetterling's birthday correct. It's in February. Not December. 02. Not 12. https://www.scribd.com/mobile/document/323496565/Search-Warrant-Documents-Wetterling-Case

Typo? Clearly. But with the amount of people, time, and money poured into this case, this "typo" is absolutely unacceptable.

Once again, let me state my 2 points:
1) Police are civil servants, bureaucrats. They seldom solve crimes by their own volition, and, given the daily addition of more work, often do anything they can to simply clear their caseload. An individual officer, or perhaps a task force, may target one criminal or a particular problem, but otherwise there is very little proactive policing. To expect endless dedication and passion, such as what those personally involved feel, is simply not part of "the system".
2) Others, such as private investigators, or "amateurs" like online bloggers, have much more leeway to look at all the clues - certainly more time, and number of people - than law enforcement does for any one case. And when you consider that internet forums do not have geographic boundaries compared to the fixed jurisdiction of any police agency, then the possibility of discovering new information or leads is increased.
Also, as has been pointed out by another post, in 1989 there was no DNA matching or Amber Alerts. Public awareness of the missing children issue was in its beginning stages, with very little legislation. And there was no internet, text messaging, or any of the technology that we use today to communicate quickly and find information.
In hindsight, it is easy to blame the police for not having solved this case sooner, however, this is not "CSI:Wherever". The TV and movie image of police work is far from reality (like that typo on the search warrant, which happens all the time). To solve every case, we would need more police than there is money to budget for. If they could solve crime to any real degree at all, then after 35 years of MADD Drinking & Driving awareness and laws, why are there still impaired drivers killing people?
So, instead, why not use the tools available to the public and look into cold cases that police have limited resources - or passion - for.

http://www.startribune.com/finding-jacob-the-final-push/393005001/ How one blogger re-opened the case.

 

[kaen]

Dear Kaen,

You write so beautifully and honestly. For survivors to come forward and share what knowledge and insight they have is truly a gift which
saves others' lives. They are not only survivors but heroes.

Thank you for your genuine compassion and kindness. Your post gives us all hope. And I agree, there are miracles.

Thank you for your kind words. I agree they are heroes. I am so glad they can come out of the shadows and not feel shame or guilt. I wish each of them could have heard the monster admit his wrong deeds. It is so important that females and males begin the process of believing that they are not at fault for the actions of low life scum.

 

[FBI Surveillance Van]

That looks like a gravel pit to me at the top...with the area north of it being burial site #1 (now part of the bypass). I've been looking at aerial views of this for the past two hours. =/ Some years, it looks like a gravel pit or even more like a dirt pit. Like dirt from digging the area that is now the retention pond. Looks like bulldozer and truck tiremarks all over the place, which makes sense to me.

What confused me was the coordinates I was using from a previous post showed the "gravel pit" right in the middle of that crater/retention pond, not where your gravel pit is. Makes sense now.

Unfortunately, it doesn't make sense with the confession transcript. "Sewage pond road" is not HWY33. If he turns on HWY33 then --- Where is the "APPROACH to a FIELD"?, "about 100 yards down that road"?? And that APPROACH being "next to a GROVE OF TREES"??? Aerial photographs of the gravel pit during that time don't show any approach to any field within 100 yards, and there aren't ANY trees!!! And he states in the transcript, that the burial site is "about 100 yards north" of where he shot him. So if he was shot in the gravel pit, then he was buried in the sewage pond or thereabouts???? See...it doesn't make sense at all to put him "IN" the gravel pit, just because it was stated that he was "in an area near" the gravel pit(s). Look at my previous post again, and follow the actual transcript - inputting coordinates into Google maps as you go. It WILL make sense, because it is based on DH's actual testimony.

 

[Sigrun]

Once again, let me state my 2 points:
1) Police are civil servants, bureaucrats. They seldom solve crimes by their own volition, and, given the daily addition of more work, often do anything they can to simply clear their caseload. An individual officer, or perhaps a task force, may target one criminal or a particular problem, but otherwise there is very little proactive policing. To expect endless dedication and passion, such as what those personally involved feel, is simply not part of "the system".

I think we just see this differently. If not part of the "system", then the "system" is abjectly broken.

2) Others, such as private investigators, or "amateurs" like online bloggers, have much more leeway to look at all the clues - certainly more time, and number of people - than law enforcement does for any one case. And when you consider that internet forums do not have geographic boundaries compared to the fixed jurisdiction of any police agency, then the possibility of discovering new information or leads is increased.
Also, as has been pointed out by another post, in 1989 there was no DNA matching or Amber Alerts. Public awareness of the missing children issue was in its beginning stages, with very little legislation. And there was no internet, text messaging, or any of the technology that we use today to communicate quickly and find information.
In hindsight, it is easy to blame the police for not having solved this case sooner, however, this is not "CSI:Wherever". The TV and movie image of police work is far from reality (like that typo on the search warrant, which happens all the time). To solve every case, we would need more police than there is money to budget for. If they could solve crime to any real degree at all, then after 35 years of MADD Drinking & Driving awareness and laws, why are there still impaired drivers killing people?
So, instead, why not use the tools available to the public and look into cold cases that police have limited resources - or passion - for.

I didn't read her post that way. I took it as a question of priority. No one is assuming vast sums of money and/or passion will be spent on jaywalkers and pot smokers. The problem is priority. The abduction of Jacob was the biggest thing to hit that little county probably ever. Even small counties have budgets in the tens of millions. Funding stings, surveillance, etc. shouldn't be a financial issue, and getting DH to expose prosecutable evidence should have been the focus over these last 27 years.

I don't think it is easier for the public acting as "sleuths" either. Quite the contrary. The fact that the government has a monopoly on all the case information and that they wield the power of the State means they should have all the advantage imaginable. I cannot see why DH could not have been easily manipulated by LE to expose additional evidence. It defies common sense. I gave an example before of how that has been done in the real world before, not on television, but in real cases. It's just a matter of priority, imo.

 

[AF555]

Unfortunately, it doesn't make sense with the confession transcript. "Sewage pond road" is not HWY33. If he turns on HWY33 then --- Where is the "APPROACH to a FIELD"?, "about 100 yards down that road"?? And that APPROACH being "next to a GROVE OF TREES"??? Aerial photographs of the gravel pit during that time don't show any approach to any field within 100 yards, and there aren't ANY trees!!! And he states in the transcript, that the burial site is "about 100 yards north" of where he shot him. So if he was shot in the gravel pit, then he was buried in the sewage pond or thereabouts???? See...it doesn't make sense at all to put him "IN" the gravel pit, just because it was stated that he was "in an area near" the gravel pit(s). Look at my previous post again, and follow the actual transcript - inputting coordinates into Google maps as you go. It WILL make sense, because it is based on DH's actual testimony.

I did follow your transcript and plot the coordinates on a map. It does make sense mostly. That's what lead me to ask about this gravel pit, since it was so far away from the other sites. It didn't make sense to me that the attack and burial was described as being "near a gravel pit" because it was so far away....assuming your coordinates were the approximate locations of the initial assault, car parked, body buried, approach, etc. The map I looked at from 1991 showed a large darkened area, and when I put your coordinates for the gravel pit in, it APPEARED to be right in the middle of that pit or crater. See attached photo. Now, when you look at more recent pictures, it's clear that part of that darkened area is and was an area with grass and trees.

1991

2003


Sigrun's locations make sense too, and they are closer to the gravel pit.

 

[FBI Surveillance Van]

Having said that, I've put together a sequence of images that I think is the best fit match to the publicly available information. It seems to be the most likely locations based on DH's testimony and other facts we have.

You should make a real map -- showing the locations I posted earlier -- which were actually based on DH's testimony -- rather than just pindropping into the location of the old gravel pit.

 

[AF555]

You should make a real map -- showing the locations I posted earlier -- which were actually based on DH's testimony -- rather than just pindropping into the location of the old gravel pit.

I did that too, but I was asking about the gravel pit in particular, so I only posted the part I was talking about.

 

[Sigrun]

Unfortunately, it doesn't make sense with the confession transcript. "Sewage pond road" is not HWY33. If he turns on HWY33 then --- Where is the "APPROACH to a FIELD"?, "about 100 yards down that road"?? And that APPROACH being "next to a GROVE OF TREES"??? Aerial photographs of the gravel pit during that time don't show any approach to any field within 100 yards, and there aren't ANY trees!!! And he states in the transcript, that the burial site is "about 100 yards north" of where he shot him. So if he was shot in the gravel pit, then he was buried in the sewage pond or thereabouts???? See...it doesn't make sense at all to put him "IN" the gravel pit, just because it was stated that he was "in an area near" the gravel pit(s). Look at my previous post again, and follow the actual transcript - inputting coordinates into Google maps as you go. It WILL make sense, because it is based on DH's actual testimony.

Here is the relevant transcript:

THE DEFENDANT: I went to that -- when I got to
Paynesville, before I got to Paynesville, I turned on the
sewage pond road. About 100 yards up that ...

[my emphasis; that road being the sewage pond road, which, agreed, I assumed must have been 33. Go 100 yards "up" 33 from old Hwy 23 and that is exactly where that "approach" road is]

road, there is
an approach and -- to a field next to a grove of trees.

[This implies there is another road off of sewage pond road - 33 - which approaches a field. If we look on the map and he turns right onto that approach road, his headlights shine directly into a huge field. And continuing on that approach he will turn in toward a grove of trees]

MR. SCHLEICHER: And this area, is there also a
gravel pit in the area?
THE DEFENDANT: There was then, yes.
MR. SCHLEICHER: This was an area with which you
were familiar, is that right?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes, it is.
MR. SCHLEICHER: What happened when you pulled
the vehicle into the area near the gravel pit?

[So far, no indication of where the gravel pit is]

THE DEFENDANT: I drove as close as I could to a
grove of trees. I stopped the car.

[As close as he could is the point I indicated on my map - that is the closest point to the grove he could get in a car like he was driving]

I got out. I opened
the door for Jacob. I unhandcuffed him. I took him over
to the edge of the grove of trees.

 

[Ottojr]

For what it's worth, an interview Jared and his attorney (also the Wetterling's attorney) gave to WCCO tv this past May after Jared sued Heinrich in civil court.

https://youtu.be/MQc7fKLKND8

 

[Sigrun]

I did that too, but I was asking about the gravel pit in particular, so I only posted the part I was talking about.

This is a better fit ... except for that gravel pit.

 

[FBI Surveillance Van]

I did that too, but I was asking about the gravel pit in particular, so I only posted the part I was talking about.

OK, this is pretty good, except I'm pretty sure the sewage road ran straight from old23 at that time (so the 100 yards up that road to the approach is perfect then) -- but that really doesn't matter I guess. Another detail this map doesn't show -- is that the car was driven in and parked only as far as he could go to(wards) the grove of trees. Probably doesn't matter to show this detail either. For sure though -- The site of the Bobcat should be included as well as the 2nd burial site. We can Zoom for detail. Thanks

 

[Ottojr]

I did that too, but I was asking about the gravel pit in particular, so I only posted the part I was talking about.

Personally, I think that makes the most sense just based on Heinrich's testimony. He said he drove about 100 yards up "Sewage Pond Road". That matches more with the FIRST field of trees/ect. The other field of trees is almost 500 yards off HWY 23. Never mind driving the bobcat.

EDIT: By the way, I'm guessing "Sewage Pong Road" is CR 33 since you can see if you follow it up further north your run into sewage ponds.


Having programs like "Google Earth" helps with historic pic of these places.

 

[AF555]

OK, this is pretty good, except I'm pretty sure the sewage road ran straight from old23 at that time (so the 100 yards up that road to the approach is perfect then) -- but that really doesn't matter I guess. Another detail this map doesn't show -- is that the car was driven in and parked only as far as he could go to(wards) the grove of trees. Probably doesn't matter to show this detail either. For sure though -- The site of the Bobcat should be included as well as the 2nd burial site. We can Zoom for detail. Thanks

I think the coordinates posted for the car spot were actually for the gravel pit...so I left that out. Wasn't sure which coordinates you meant to put for that...

 

[human]

For what it's worth, an interview Jared and his attorney (also the Wetterling's attorney) gave to WCCO tv this past May after Jared sued Heinrich in civil court.

https://youtu.be/MQc7fKLKND8

When is that suit going to happen?

 

[Ottojr]

This is a better fit ... except for that gravel pit.

Did you see the historic pic of that "gravel pit" in 1991? I looked like it's mostly under water.

It looks like it floods a lot.

 

[FBI Surveillance Van]

This is a better fit ... except for that gravel pit.

You can move the pin back towards site to that patch of trees that is there "now", if that makes you feel better. The gravel pit was anywhere on that side of the road away from the field. About same distance or less to the gravel pit as it was to get Bobcat, or move to 2nd burial site. All of them described as being "near" the area.

 

[Ottojr]

When is that suit going to happen?

I don't know. Ask Jared or his attorney. It happened in May.


Lot's of stuff has happened since then.

 

[AF555]

4/1991

9/2016

 

[Sigrun]

You can move the pin back towards site to that patch of trees that is there "now", if that makes you feel better. The gravel pit was anywhere on that side of the road away from the field. About same distance or less to the gravel pit as it was to get Bobcat, or move to 2nd burial site. All of them described as being "near" the area.

I think so, but the only other "anomaly" remaining is how to explain what Ottojr said ... and how he fired a gun so close to a house. It does seem that 33 must be the sewage pond road as it runs directly to them. But what looks right about the position you provided is how close it is to the farm. Shew, not sure.