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

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Woah! I listened to the last episode on sex offenders.

I have a very close relative who worked at the Moose Lake State Hospital where the civilly commited sex offenders are housed.

On a Friday, she walked off of a job with great benefits to no job. She said she could no longer stand listening to offenders say why it is ok that they abused four year olds. She had PTSD from working that job.

I have a friend who is in her 60's. She was sex abused by her minister father. She has never recovered. She has depression that crushes her on some days.

In MN, the community is notified when it is Level Three, the most likely to reoffend,

I cannot agree with Patty even though she certainly knows more than I.

The offender may be a friend, relative, coach, etc. That does not make the harm any less.

Where I lived in MN, a landlord would charge a non refundable $35 for a background check. The prospective renter would spill all because he wanted to know if the landlord would rent to him.

It is true. Who wants a sex offender renting on their property? So the renter cannot find decent rentals. And who wants a sex offender working for them.

They say in the podcast that there is no ither crime that makes such issues, Except for murder, what other crime is there that leaves victims trying to recover from their violation?

I have no sympathy. The children that are talked about as offenders; the public urination; those should be looked at and addressed.

As far as the mark on the passport, good! I live in a Third World country now and I am so aware how easy it would be to abuse the children here. As it is, there must be some kind of sex info on children as very rich tourists come here and have made 13 year old girls pregnant. This is a big concern of the govt. If there are sex offenders traveling around, great that other countries get the warning,

In
 
I heard this song a few weeks back and have played it many times since. It makes me think of Jacob every time....back to the simpler times when he still had his hopes and dreams ahead of him. Just thought I'd share it.

https://youtu.be/9udBwdXnOGk
 
Very interesting, thank you for sharing. The Wetterlings are now finding peace in this, as is everyone else.

I do not know how they do it, I love the comment of how Trevor said Jacob had work to do. I felt guilty for thinking that no one could see the truth for 27 years because of exactly that idea. I truly believe it. Jacob changed the world,
 
Since there is no thread for the "In the Dark" podcast (and apparently I can't start one) I will post this here, as it seems the most appropriate thread. The latest episode was one of the most interesting so far in my opinion. While it follows the trend of the later episodes of not focusing on Jacob's case directly, this edition does really bring a lot of the points home in terms of the Stearns County Sheriff's Office and their track record with solving major crimes. This is not surprising, as Episode 8 was supposed to be the finale. Luckily, they have announced a 9th podcast, which I presume will bring the entire discussion back to Jacob's investigation. Would love to hear thoughts about this and the podcast in general from other members.

I believe some here will be interested to know that this episode does feature discussion about Josh Guimond as well.

http://www.apmreports.org/story/2016/10/18/in-the-dark-8
 
Since there is no thread for the "In the Dark" podcast (and apparently I can't start one) I will post this here, as it seems the most appropriate thread. The latest episode was one of the most interesting so far in my opinion. While it follows the trend of the later episodes of not focusing on Jacob's case directly, this edition does really bring a lot of the points home in terms of the Stearns County Sheriff's Office and their track record with solving major crimes. This is not surprising, as Episode 8 was supposed to be the finale. Luckily, they have announced a 9th podcast, which I presume will bring the entire discussion back to Jacob's investigation. Would love to hear thoughts about this and the podcast in general from other members.

I believe some here will be interested to know that this episode does feature discussion about Josh Guimond as well.

http://www.apmreports.org/story/2016/10/18/in-the-dark-8

It was very scathing of Sheriffs.

I really want to know what could have been done about Heinrich. This is the US and since Heinrich could not be proved as doing any crimes, a citizen cannot be harrassed by the govt. The DNA was not until much later. They tried with the interrogation and following him but to no avail.

What do people think could have legally be done?

Although it was not in the podcast, different media knew about Heinrich but no one seemed to do much follow up.

The podcast is a strange mix; criticism of not arresting perps and criticism of them when they do arrest.

Josh Guimond is a whole other topic. He has his own forum.

I would really like to know what could have legally be done about Heinrich.
 
It was very scathing of Sheriffs.

I really want to know what could have been done about Heinrich. This is the US and since Heinrich could not be proved as doing any crimes, a citizen cannot be harrassed by the govt. The DNA was not until much later. They tried with the interrogation and following him but to no avail.

What do people think could have legally be done?

Although it was not in the podcast, different media knew about Heinrich but no one seemed to do much follow up.

The podcast is a strange mix; criticism of not arresting perps and criticism of them when they do arrest.

Josh Guimond is a whole other topic. He has his own forum.

I would really like to know what could have legally be done about Heinrich.

The answer is they really did do their job and had gone after Heinrich a month after the kidnapping. Unless he confessed, which was easy for him not to do, you see because of how it all played out that there wasnt much LE could do. Until they could finally find a reason based on DNA testing to search and bust him for child *advertiser censored*. 26 years later where his life is in complete jeopardy of life in prison, would he succumb to the prowess of LE's deal.
 
Where the podcast failed, and maybe that is what the next one focuses on, but it has lacked on connecting the dots on Heinrich and LE failure. There is mentioned that people saw the car that night and they were never asked about it. Neighbors etc. But at least after night one, what else could have LE done to get evidence on Heinrich.

On the podcast in general, the reporter stumbled into a series of questions about why is there no check on Sheriff's power, why there isn't a centralized data collection of crime or even law enforcement entities. She may want to revisit political science class, the answers to her questions are there.
 
On the whole, I've been disappointed with "In the Dark". I think it started out strong when it focused solely on the facts surrounding Jacob's case, but then got off track a bit by talking about sex offender registries and previous cases handled by the Stearns County Sheriff's Department.

I'm very interested in the Wetterling case and I'm all for looking back and pondering what might have been done differently. I just think the podcast has gotten away from the meat and potatoes of the case and has instead turned into an expose of the sheriff's department. They were the primary investigative agency that handled the Wetterling case, but not the only one (BCA and FBI also played significant roles).

As far as Heinrich goes, it’s incredibly frustrating to everyone that he was interviewed as a suspect early in the investigation and then allowed to live as a free man for 26 years. That said, I’m not sure what could have been done differently by law enforcement. What made this case so difficult to solve was that the crime was committed by a single perpetrator who never told anyone about his actions and left no solid physical evidence at the scene. That’s why it took almost 27 years; not negligence on the part of law enforcement.
 
On the whole, I've been disappointed with "In the Dark". I think it started out strong when it focused solely on the facts surrounding Jacob's case, but then got off track a bit by talking about sex offender registries and previous cases handled by the Stearns County Sheriff's Department.

I'm very interested in the Wetterling case and I'm all for looking back and pondering what might have been done differently. I just think the podcast has gotten away from the meat and potatoes of the case and has instead turned into an expose of the sheriff's department. They were the primary investigative agency that handled the Wetterling case, but not the only one (BCA and FBI also played significant roles).

As far as Heinrich goes, it’s incredibly frustrating to everyone that he was interviewed as a suspect early in the investigation and then allowed to live as a free man for 26 years. That said, I’m not sure what could have been done differently by law enforcement. What made this case so difficult to solve was that the crime was committed by a single perpetrator who never told anyone about his actions and left no solid physical evidence at the scene. That’s why it took almost 27 years; not negligence on the part of law enforcement.

The point of the podcast from the beginning though, even before Jacob was found, was to analyze how LE handled the case. There has been a good deal of discussion about what the BCA and FBI did, which was contrasted to great degree with the SCS. I'm glad they examined other cases under their jurisdiction because that only served to further diffferentiate between other LE agencies and the SCS.

As for what could have been done differently, I believe it's been discussed both here and in the podcast fairly extensively. We know that the Paynesville cases were brought to the attention of the SCS. They knew that DH lived in Paynesville. Speaking in terms of statistics and common sense, how many men would likely have been running around a small town like that sexually assaulting boys? Yet what efforts were made by investigstors to speak to the NUMEROUS victims there? We will never know how the case against DH could have been bolstered by such efforts.

We also don't know how a search of the area surrounding Paynseville may have affected the case, and how DH could have reacted under the pressure of such a search. The resources were certainly there to accomplish such things. There are those within the investigation who have always known in their gut that DH was the guy, and for reasons we may never know LE did not exhaust their options in pursuing him and building a stronger case against him, both before and after his arrest in 1990. They put all of their eggs into the basket of Jared's case, which was strong enough to arrest him but not enough to charge him, and then hoped he would crack under interrogation.
 
The point of the podcast from the beginning though, even before Jacob was found, was to analyze how LE handled the case. There has been a good deal of discussion about what the BCA and FBI did, which was contrasted to great degree with the SCS. I'm glad they examined other cases under their jurisdiction because that only served to further diffferentiate between other LE agencies and the SCS.

As for what could have been done differently, I believe it's been discussed both here and in the podcast fairly extensively. We know that the Paynesville cases were brought to the attention of the SCS. They knew that DH lived in Paynesville. Speaking in terms of statistics and common sense, how many men would likely have been running around a small town like that sexually assaulting boys? Yet what efforts were made by investigstors to speak to the NUMEROUS victims there? We will never know how the case against DH could have been bolstered by such efforts.

We also don't know how a search of the area surrounding Paynseville may have affected the case, and how DH could have reacted under the pressure of such a search. The resources were certainly there to accomplish such things. There are those within the investigation who have always known in their gut that DH was the guy, and for reasons we may never know LE did not exhaust their options in pursuing him and building a stronger case against him, both before and after his arrest in 1990. They put all of their eggs into the basket of Jared's case, which was strong enough to arrest him but not enough to charge him, and then hoped he would crack under interrogation.

Legally, what could they have done?

I know we wish but what are the legal things ? If they did a search of Paynesville, it is possible they could have found him. Although Jared was not brought to Paynesville so should they have searched that area as well? Not knowing what rheh know today. Just that he molested Jared.

Maybe we iwll find out in the next podcast that it was known that the burial spot was special to him. It must not have been very obvious though if no one ever noticed it.

If they had asked kids in the neighborhood, should LE have concentrated on area people or should they have looked st the thousands of leads they had?

It is clear today, but was it clear with 50,000 leads? No computer to sort. Hand writing.
 
The point of the podcast from the beginning though, even before Jacob was found, was to analyze how LE handled the case. There has been a good deal of discussion about what the BCA and FBI did, which was contrasted to great degree with the SCS. I'm glad they examined other cases under their jurisdiction because that only served to further diffferentiate between other LE agencies and the SCS.

As for what could have been done differently, I believe it's been discussed both here and in the podcast fairly extensively. We know that the Paynesville cases were brought to the attention of the SCS. They knew that DH lived in Paynesville. Speaking in terms of statistics and common sense, how many men would likely have been running around a small town like that sexually assaulting boys? Yet what efforts were made by investigstors to speak to the NUMEROUS victims there? We will never know how the case against DH could have been bolstered by such efforts.

We also don't know how a search of the area surrounding Paynseville may have affected the case, and how DH could have reacted under the pressure of such a search. The resources were certainly there to accomplish such things. There are those within the investigation who have always known in their gut that DH was the guy, and for reasons we may never know LE did not exhaust their options in pursuing him and building a stronger case against him, both before and after his arrest in 1990. They put all of their eggs into the basket of Jared's case, which was strong enough to arrest him but not enough to charge him, and then hoped he would crack under interrogation.

Exactly, and we had emotionally charged social media and inept reporters who have tried to blame the Paynesville Police,and who subsequently pointed at Duane Hart as the abductor, and Stearns blindly followed their lead.

Stearns forgot about Danny Heinrich, or worse. The more information that comes out the more damaging it all becomes. FBI involvement solved this case in a matter of days. It's abhorrent that Stearns has no goals, no plans to address the glaring issues at hand, and are spewing the lame and and insensitive notion that examining the past makes no difference
 
Exactly, and we had emotionally charged social media and inept reporters who have tried to blame the Paynesville Police,and who subsequently pointed at Duane Hart as the abductor, and Stearns blindly followed their lead.

Stearns forgot about Danny Heinrich, or worse. The more information that comes out the more damaging it all becomes. FBI involvement solved this case in a matter of days. It's abhorrent that Stearns has no goals, no plans to address the glaring issues at hand, and are spewing the lame and and insensitive notion that examining the past makes no difference

What do you feel that LE could have legally done re Heinrich back in the day?
 
What do you feel that LE could have legally done re Heinrich back in the day?

They should have remembered him, should have had effective surveillance on him around the anniversary of the abduction. They knew it was Heinrich, they should never even considered DAn Rassier as a suspect.
 
They should have remembered him, should have had effective surveillance on him around the anniversary of the abduction. They knew it was Heinrich, they should never even considered DAn Rassier as a suspect.

Do you feel that at every anniversary he went to the site?

Does LE have to get some kind of court order in order to do surveillance? Do you think they could have gotten a court order with the info they had?

Do you think that Heinrich fell off of the radar since he had not done anything they knew of for years? That does not fit the profile. The escalation to killing and then stopping.
 
They should have remembered him, should have had effective surveillance on him around the anniversary of the abduction. They knew it was Heinrich, they should never even considered DAn Rassier as a suspect.

If he moved they noted it, if he got new employment they noted it, if you look at the facts they never did forget about Heinrich. They followed him for weeks, there was nothing. The evidence from Jareds assault was never forgotten as well, it was routinely submitted to testing until technology caught up with it. The key was a confession, and it would take an old and confiscated Heinrich to get that.
 

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