MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #2

[concentric]

From what I've read, LE cleared over 4,000 leads over the years, some in other countries across the world. And here we arrive back at square one I guess.

Why aren't we hearing from the officer who initially responded to the scene and dismissed that guy (driver) who just innocently happened upon the scene? We've heard from the driver.

 

[shergal]

I wonder if that officer is still around? I think there's a different sheriff (Sanner) on it now than there was 20 years ago, because one retired. Hindsight is great, I guess, but it sure would have been nice if they'd searched that farmhouse that night instead of waiting 5 days. (And maybe not let anyone leave the scene with a car filled with boxes.) Although I guess we just have DR's word for that.

 

[human]

Well, and the 411 bird's eye view was more to show you the location of the homes and woods around there anyway - for those who asked how many homes were down there, than to name names of people living there. I don't think we need to be harassing any of the homeowners or digging up any possible online dirt on the names shown. None of THEM have been named as persons of interest. (And according to our friends they have all been looked into plenty already and had their places turned upside down by LE.) It just gives you an idea of where the boys biked from.

Totally agree with you there.

What do your friends think of DR?

 

[concentric]

Perhaps it could have been as simple as Jacob breaking away and starting to run, when the abductor shoots him, killing him, all taking place within a few minutes on that farm?

 

[Hope4Lost]

Perhaps it could have been as simple as Jacob breaking away and starting to run, when the abductor shoots him, killing him, all taking place within a few minutes on that farm?

Unless a weapon were fitted with a silencer, gunshots carry a looooooooooong way in the country.

 

[shergal]

Totally agree with you there.

What do your friends think of DR?

I don't know yet, I haven't talked to them since DR was named a suspect. I'll ask them when I see them.

 

[human]

Perhaps it could have been as simple as Jacob breaking away and starting to run, when the abductor shoots him, killing him, all taking place within a few minutes on that farm?

blood would be difficult to clean up in the dark.

My question is if the dogs followed Jacob's scent for 200 feet, then what?

Did they follow the scent up THE driveway?

If so, what about the footprints by the telephone pole?

 

[shergal]

Maybe the abductor picked Jacob up at that point? He could have knocked him out if he was fighting to get away. You have to think he wouldn't have been carried far. Either straight back between fields to the woods, into a barn, or into the only house around.

 

[Lotus]

The footprints near the telephone pole show that Jacob was trying to resist, I think at that point the abductor simply picked him up and walked off the driveway and into the grass. The reason the dogs couldn't pick up Jacob's scent any further was because the ground was really dry and with the presence of the tire tracks, LE just assumed that Jacob was being pushed into a car at that point. Plus it would only make sense to cut through the trees at that point instead of going down the full length of the driveway JMO.

Although, I'm curious if LE had experts analyze the footprints to determine what specific actions were being performed during the struggle.

 

[human]

The footprints near the telephone pole show that Jacob was trying to resist, I think at that point the abductor simply picked him up and walked off the driveway and into the grass. The reason the dogs couldn't pick up Jacob's scent any further was because the ground was really dry and with the presence of the tire tracks, LE just assumed that Jacob was being pushed into a car at that point. Plus it would only make sense to cut through the trees at that point instead of going down the full length of the driveway JMO.

Although, I'm curious if LE had experts analyze the footprints to determine what specific actions were being performed during the struggle.

Maybe search dogs are a lot better now. My understanding is that they can even follow them in a car.

I bet that they do have new analysis of those footprints. Good insight!

 

[shergal]

I was just looking through old posts on Jacob and found this website link that mentions Jacob (and St. John's abbey). It is a site about Johnny Gosch, who I think has his own thread here on WS. Just posting the link here for any possible connections. They mention a newspaper carrier (boy) from St. Joseph who someone attempted to abduct, but the boy got away. This was shortly before Jacob's abduction. I don't recall much about that case and wondered if anyone knew more about that.

Here's what it said on their site:
"Johnny Gosch was the first of three similar kidnappings that the “source” stated were conducted by the same group of kidnappers. All three victims were newspaper delivery boys. The second kidnapping was Eugene Martin. Gosch and Martin were from Des Moines, Iowa. The third intended victim was a local newspaper delivery boy from St. Joseph, Minnesota. When interviewed, he stated he was able to escape by slipping out of his coat and running. When this kidnapping failed, a second attempt was made and Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped. To this date, none of these crimes have been solved."

http://www.johnnygosch.com/

 

[Lotus]

I've never heard of that before. If it's true I would think LE would have released the story after the Wetterling abduction.

 

[Lotus]

One thing I'm curious about is the sound that Aaron heard when they were going by the spot the first time, he said he heard the sound to his left and a little ways before passing the driveway. I wonder if the sound came from these shrubs on the bottom left, because in October I would think pretty much everything is dead so it would have been more difficult to hide, but I seem to remember seeing these clumps of trees in original photos & video from 1989.

 

[Trino]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wiy2Pieiajc

Interesting stuff...

I wonder why this has been disregarded by LE.

 

[human]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wiy2Pieiajc

Interesting stuff...

I wonder why this has been disregarded by LE.

Has it been disregarded? they checked him out?

 

[shergal]

My speakers aren't the greatest, but I had trouble hearing some of that. But I found this: http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=140148.0

It does sound like LE ignored it - I wonder why? I have never even heard of this Bahner guy before.

 

[shergal]

Well, now I'm not so sure. I'm curious who stearnstruth (who made those you tubes) and "Kevin" are. It says Kevin was in prison with this Bahner. But DR has a brother named Kevin also. The tapes sound kind of "home made" to me. Anyone could certainly forward this info to the Wetterling tip line tho.

 

[human]

Now that I think about it, in the last couple of months, I heard that this Bahner story was disproved . I heard it on the radio, if anyone else knows anything about this. It was cleared in the last couple of months, not years ago. That's all I remember.

 

[Dejasade]

Now that I think about it, in the last couple of months, I heard that this Bahner story was disproved . I heard it on the radio, if anyone else knows anything about this. It was cleared in the last couple of months, not years ago. That's all I remember.

I wonder why this was disproved?
I've been clicking on some of the other youtube posts on this guy...it's weird...

 

[concentric]

In two weeks of listening to this recording, I haven't been able to understand what is being said. Anyone have a transcript?