MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #16

[human]

I.guess none of us know what they are doing with the evidence, but I posted the story of the murder they solved of a girl that was killed here in the 60's. They never gave up. So it took almost 40 years for that one.
The girl's name was Carolyn something. It is on here somewhere. I will go look it up again.

 

[human]

Here it is. I doubt if LE is any less persistent with Jacob. This is the dedication and the hope they have.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/3735369-cold-case-closure-provides-sweet-ending-duluth-cop

 

[buffetoflies]

He might have expected to, though...unless he planned from the start to abduct one of the boys from that exact location(and he may have, given how "ready" he seems to have been).

Or, maybe he planned to go up to the door. Even if they had that girl there watching them, that guy could have overpowered her easily and scared the boys into doing what he said.

Maybe he went up to the house and no one was there. so he was walking back along the road on the edge of the woods when the boys came back on their bikes and opportunity presented itself...

explains the gloves, and the guy had to have been doing something before he was on the side of the road... maybe he was at one of the party spots, maybe he was scoping out a house to rob.. i don't think he was just chillin in the ditch laying in wait for someone to come along.

 

[human]

Or, maybe he planned to go up to the door. Even if they had that girl there watching them, that guy could have overpowered her easily and scared the boys into doing what he said.

Maybe he went up to the house and no one was there. so he was walking back along the road on the edge of the woods when the boys came back on their bikes and opportunity presented itself...

explains the gloves, and the guy had to have been doing something before he was on the side of the road... maybe he was at one of the party spots, maybe he was scoping out a house to rob.. i don't think he was just chillin in the ditch laying in wait for someone to come along.

I think a look at the map might help. And they lived in a cul de sac so that would not be that easy considering her family lived next door. The house is wuite aways from the R place.

And how would he know about the sitter?

 

[buffetoflies]

he couldn't, but if there was one she probably would not have been much of a problem.

houses being in a cul de sac don't matter. sure they're close together but it was dark .. anyone can quietly prowl around.

 

[human]

They could if it was a city. But it was like five or 7 at at the most houses in a circlish layout. The Wetterling's had a dog. I have no idea, but I imagine at least some of the other neighbors had a dog as well.

This area is not like walking down some city neighborhood. It was out in the middle of nowhere

 

[emeraldine]

What I think is that the perp must have spotted them for the first time as they were either approaching the store, or riding back from it...probably the former, since they saw no cars on their way home(and since there were no streetlights as they approached what would end up being the abduction site...though I think D.R. had some lights on in his yard, and the boys definitely had a flashlight).

While any theory is possible, it would have been very difficult for the perp to have found Jacob's neighborhood and spotted the boys leaving the house...unless, of course, he lived very close by or knew someone who did.

The boys would surely have made note of any suspicious creeps in cars driving slowly through nearby neighborhoods, too. So would other locals.

The ride to the store would have been very short. I think it's a mile.

 

[Sillybilly]

This post lands at random.

Some rude posts and responses to them have been removed. Rude posts are against the rules, so if you see one that violates TOS, please use the Alert feature to let us know there is problem. Do not discuss it on the board, but let a Mod/Admin handle it.

Thanks.

 

[emeraldine]

This post lands at random.

Some rude posts and responses to them have been removed. Rude posts are against the rules, so if you see one that violates TOS, please use the Alert feature to let us know there is problem. Do not discuss it on the board, but let a Mod/Admin handle it.

Thanks.

Thank you, and I'm sorry. I will be using "alert" if it happens again.

 

[emeraldine]

According to Google Maps, it's 1.3 miles(apparently, six minutes) from Jacob's house to the place where the Tom Thumb used to be.



Circled in red is where I think the abduction took place(if it isn't, I'll fix it).

I wish I could make a Street View video of the route. Everything looks so widely spaced-out and rural.

 

[human]

According to Google Maps, it's 1.3 miles(apparently, six minutes) from Jacob's house to the place where the Tom Thumb used to be.

View attachment 74758

Circled in red is where I think the abduction took place(if it isn't, I'll fix it).

I wish I could make a Street View video of the route. Everything looks so widely spaced-out and rural.

There have been many many maps made. I get on here a different way so I don't know how to lead you there, but I Think nmogren stated that there is info at rhe beginning of the page or????

 

[emeraldine]

I think the perp saw the boys en route to the store(probably very close to when they arrived)...then, he went back to hide in the woods around D.R.'s property because it looks like the only logical place to hide without being spotted in someone's yard and reported to police.

 

[emeraldine]

There have been many many maps made. I get on here a different way so I don't know how to lead you there, but I Think nmogren stated that there is info at rhe beginning of the page or????

I just found them. There's a map thread, and some maps shergal made.

I do not know if I'm allowed to link to anything, but most other maps much more detailed than what I just put up.

I wanted to try to "illustrate" the neighborhood for anyone coming in, and/or find something that will.

 

[emeraldine]

The map thread is linked on the first page, in the beginning post.

 

[Sasquatch321]

I think the perp saw the boys en route to the store(probably very close to when they arrived)...then, he went back to hide in the woods around D.R.'s property because it looks like the only logical place to hide without being spotted in someone's yard and reported to police.

If he was near the store that means in the pitch black of night he went almost a mile away, up and over a hill, then waited in confidence that it would only still be those three coming over the hill as he catches him. And DR becomes a POI 21 years later because he knows more about this theory, but failed to share it with LE.

 

[shergal]

I think the perp saw the boys en route to the store(probably very close to when they arrived)...then, he went back to hide in the woods around D.R.'s property because it looks like the only logical place to hide without being spotted in someone's yard and reported to police.

Yes, I agree, I think the only possibilities are that he saw them going to, or near the store, and went south on the road to wait - hoping they'd come back. He would have no way of knowing if they were going to a friend's house unless he heard them discussing the video, IMO. Or he was already out in DR's yard or on the road somewhere and ducked down in the ditch when he saw/heard them coming from home and watched from the ditch (rustling noise) as they went past, and then moved to DR's driveway to stop them on their way back. He could have had a car on the brush road leading into the party spot, or parked in DR's driveway. Those seem like the most likely scenarios.

 

[emeraldine]

If he was near the store that means in the pitch black of night he went almost a mile away, up and over a hill, then waited in confidence that it would only still be those three coming over the hill as he catches him. And DR becomes a POI 21 years later because he knows more about this theory, but failed to share it with LE.

I have difficulty figuring out that part, too, for any theory other than the "it's either D.R. in a poofy jacket, or an associate of his that he's covering for" theory - I wish I did know how the perp seemed to magically understand that the boys would come back alone.

...unless he didn't, but had a good reason to be confident about his ability to overpower them, regardless(let's say there was an accomplice, even though all we can prove so far is one perp at the scene...two people are certainly stronger than one, and can shoot more effectively).

One idea I have is that the perp might have been the type to do this sort of thing often...he'd maybe spot kids, lie in wait for them, and then either "luck out" or have to abandon his plans and try again somewhere else. That seems highly time-consuming, though, and potentially dangerous for him.

There were those other seemingly random attacks in the general area, though(in which one man seems to have acted alone, each time, giving the victims little time to react to the approach of his car from out of nowhere), so it could be true.

 

[Trackergd]

Since some folks scenarios point to DR as the abductor, let me ask some questions. If you look at the distance between the farm house and the main road (length of the driveway), why would DR be hanging out at the end of the family driveway waiting for children to walk past so he could jump out and abduct one? Like any other potential suspect, how would he know the boys would be going past the end of his driveway? I seriously doubt he could have seen them from the farmhouse. If he were out for an evening run and saw them, he would not have had enough time to run home and change into a disguise.

 

[human]

He could have been out for a run and saw them coming down from their house.

He heard them talking and saw the light from their flashlight.

Running up his driveway would be nothing to a guy who runs marathons. Three blocks up and three blocks down. How many minutes at the most fo do that?

To me it is incredibly easy

 

[Jewelia]

I believe this abduction was planned (IMO), and that the predator had accomplices.
Someone had to tell this predator these boys were going to the Tom Thumb.

His accomplices were in a ditch, and looking for the boys coming, then told the predator. There may have been as many as 4 people involved in this. The person who told the predator the boys were going to the Tom Thumb, the accomplices who looked for the boys, and the predator.

The car was either hidden in the driveway, or behind the brush on the road. The driveway seems more likely since there's a twisted foot print by a tire track ..... Like the boy was picked up, carried, then one foot hit the ground while he was forced into the car.