MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #4

[ELOCsoul]

Kevin's story:

http://www.joybaker.com/2013/03/14/back-to-jacob-kevins-story/

Joy (blog owner) has more to come.

For those of you who have not read this blog yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. Joy is 3 parts into her recent interviews with DR and Kevin, and we are learning more information that we haven't had before. There have been gaps in media reports, and in my opinion the explanations given by DR and Kevin, through Joy's blogs, are filling in some of those gaps, as well as leading to new questions.

The part about the "medical cop" at the Tom Thumb store is an interesting twist. His car "looked" like a cop car - but perhaps it wasn't. Matthew Feeney was known to be in Jacob's neighborhood that night, and his car at the time was a former cop car, he even had a night stick in the back seat according to a fellow camp counselor.

The one thing I find inconsistent in Joy's blog, is DR's statement that is was not unusual for cars to be in his driveway at night - but back in 1989 he was quoted as saying it was out of the ordinary for a car to be in his driveway that time of night (October 24, 1989 St Cloud Times).

 

[human]

I still do not understand what Joy is saying about the small car in her blog. The way she has written it makes no sense.

And she is interviewing Kevin about an incident from 1989 and he remembers that a yard light was on? Really?

And he says he backed up. Really? He remembers that from 1989?

 

[KeepHopeAlive]

I'm not sure why you're questioning Kevin's memory.

 

[shergal]

For those of you who have not read this blog yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. Joy is 3 parts into her recent interviews with DR and Kevin, and we are learning more information that we haven't had before. There have been gaps in media reports, and in my opinion the explanations given by DR and Kevin, through Joy's blogs, are filling in some of those gaps, as well as leading to new questions.

The part about the "medical cop" at the Tom Thumb store is an interesting twist. His car "looked" like a cop car - but perhaps it wasn't. Matthew Feeney was known to be in Jacob's neighborhood that night, and his car at the time was a former cop car, he even had a night stick in the back seat according to a fellow camp counselor.

The one thing I find inconsistent in Joy's blog, is DR's statement that is was not unusual for cars to be in his driveway at night - but back in 1989 he was quoted as saying it was out of the ordinary for a car to be in his driveway that time of night (October 24, 1989 St Cloud Times).

I guess what surprises me in all of this is for all these years DR has refused to say "what I saw that day." He was asked in a couple of TV interviews, and in a newspaper interview, but he always has refused to say (even as late as 2010 when they were digging on his farm) what he claims to have seen that day. So for him to sit down now and give this whole story to a blogger who he realizes is going to post it on the internet for all to see, seems a little odd.

I too, have always read that Kevin's meeting with the cop took place right at the driveway, ELOC. Kind of amazing that Kevin could drive down that road, into DR's driveway, all the way up to the house, turn around, go back to the Tom Thumb, get out, go in the store, visit with the "medical cop" and the clerk, get back in their car, go stop and chat with this other cop (who no one seems to know who he is) and never run into any police or searchers. This would have had to have been when the cops were responding to Merle's 911 call if Kevin went chasing after that original patrol car. But it's a very small town - smaller in 1989 - and hard to believe no police (or anyone else) would have seen Kevin and his gf doing all this driving around when LE was just starting this huge search for a stranger in a car. Meanwhile Feeney is also on this same dead end road about that time, dropping off a boy from camp. Busy place for a dead end road.

Then to be told "yeah, we know already" by this "cop" they did talk to? My first instinct would be to wonder if this "cop" they talked to wasn't in fact the perp himself trying to get rid of them. And who, if they are out chasing a cop car to see where the excitement was, would stop when seeing kids' bikes & scooter in the ditch and think "we should load these into our trunk"?? I get the feeling we're still not hearing the entire story somehow, or there's been some embellishing done over the years. I'd love to know what Sheriff Sanner and current investigators think of all this.

 

[SelTel]

Matthew David Feeney
DOB: 07/12/1968


Feb 25, 2013: . . . Tim remembers Feeney doing something odd after Wetterling's disappearance. "I was with Matt Feeney and another child. I don't know what kind of car, but it was like a cop car," Tim recalled, explaining that there was a CB radio, night stick and large flashlight inside . . . that Feeney wanted to show them where Wetterling was abducted . . . "Drove around for a while and he stopped the car and pointed up to the right side of the car," Tim remembered. "Basically, to a ditch -- five, 10 feet. He basically said that is where he was abducted." It wasn't until later that Tim began thinking about that night differently. "Could there be a connection between him and Jacob?"

June 19, 2012: Feeney . . . was convicted 20 years ago in Aitkin County, MN of molesting three children. What they do not tell you, upon his release from a minimal sentence, he was immediately taken into custody and transferred to Stearns County, MN. He was brought in on charges of molesting an additional eleven children . . . This is a man who lured children in over 20 years ago with his decked out ex-police car. (He was an EMT and had lights, push bumpers and police radio) Children thought it was great.

Case No. 73-K2-92-002276 – Stearns County, MN - Complaint filed 07/20/1992; plead guilty 01/29/1993
Offense: CRM SEX 4
Comments: SEX OFFENDER PROGRAM, POST SNT WORKSHEET ORDERED, NO UNSUPER VISED VISIT W/ VICTIM

Case No. 01-K6-92-000111 – Aitkin County, MN - Complaint filed 03/09/1992; plead guilty 06/29/1992
Offense: CRIM.SEX.CONDUCT 4TH DEG.
Comments: COMPLETE SEXUAL OFFENDERS TREATMENT; HAVE NO UNSUPERVISED CONTACT W/MINOR MALES; NO CONTACT WITH VICTIM

Case No. 01-K0-92-000038 – Aitkin County, MN - Complaint filed 01/28/1992; plead guilty 06/29/1992
Offense: CRIM.SEX.CONDUCT 4TH DEG.
Comments: SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE SEXUAL OFFENDERS TREATMENT; HAVE NO CONTACT W/MINOR MALES OR VICTIM; REPORT TO JAIL 9-8-1992 AT 9AM

October 24, 1989: Feeney puts in many more hours with his kids than he is actually paid for. They stop by his house after school, for some of the candy he conveniently keeps his fish tank filled with. He eats lunch with the fourth and fifth graders every day at 11:30. “Many of them don’t have a male role model,” he said.

Photo of Feeney with 10 boys published October 1989: http://www.behindthepinecurtain.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/1989/10/feeney_kids_num.jpg

 

[ELOCsoul]

I still do not understand what Joy is saying about the small car in her blog. The way she has written it makes no sense.

And she is interviewing Kevin about an incident from 1989 and he remembers that a yard light was on? Really?

And he says he backed up. Really? He remembers that from 1989?

Human, I'm not sure why you seem to be stuck on the thing about the yard light. Yard lights on country farms are very common, almost typical I would say. And they come on at night automatically. I grew up on a farm in WI, we had a total of 3 yard lights for the outbuildings. DR's farm had one as well.

What is it about the small car that doesn't make sense to you? DR says he saw a small car turn around in his driveway. This would have been just prior to or just after the kidnapping most likely. He said it was a small car in 1989, and says it was a small car today. Kevin was driving a big car in 1989 - it wasn't Kevin that he saw turn around in his driveway.

 

[ELOCsoul]

I guess what surprises me in all of this is for all these years DR has refused to say "what I saw that day." He was asked in a couple of TV interviews, and in a newspaper interview, but he always has refused to say (even as late as 2010 when they were digging on his farm) what he claims to have seen that day. So for him to sit down now and give this whole story to a blogger who he realizes is going to post it on the internet for all to see, seems a little odd.

Yeah I agree with you on this Shergal. While the info about the cars turning around in the DR driveway is interesting information to learn now - it really doesn't hold up to what DR has described over the years as key information that he has told the police but refused to share with the media.

 

[human]

OK. I went back and re read the part about the small car. Joy had me confused because she used, " He." The " he " refers to Dan. The writing is confusing.

I am questioning the yard light as I live in a very similar area to that place, and no one has yard lights on all night.

Sleeping with a yard light on is extremely annoying. They were not downward deflecting like they are nowadays.

I searched for Jacob. I cannot remember much about that time in terms of details. It was 1989!

Plus, hubby and I have discussions about vehicles we see on our little road. We discuss the color and make of cars that go by and wonder who the people are.

The latest one parked in a neighbor's driveway. We were wrong about color and make. We had a difference of opinion, and neither of us was correct. Try doing an eye witness experience with some people. Do not tell them until after you ask the questions. You will be surprised about the answers.

 

[human]

I am very angry, if these reports are true, that Kevin did not share them with LE at the time.

He certainly had an alibi. Very sad.

 

[ELOCsoul]

The following is just my opinion only, and is just my theory of why LE considers DR as a POI in the Wetterling abduction, particularly after Kevin came forward with his story. After a year of researching the case, I myself have not come to any strong opinions of whether or not DR was the perp. Aside from a strong body of circumstantial evidence, we do not know of any physical evidence linking DR to the crime. I'm equally open to the idea that the abduction was by car, as I am that it was on foot.

Anyway - here is why I think LE's focus has been on DR since Kevin came forward as the person who drove into DR's driveway. Please follow my logic carefully:

In the days immediately following Jacob's abduction, DR stated that he saw a small dark car turn around in his yard. He confirms this in Joy The Curious' blog. The car had what appeared to be a woman or a child in the passenger seat, according to DR. This car, as he describes in the blog, would have been in the driveway at about the time of the abduction. DR also says he saw a large car turn around in the driveway earlier in the day.

We know from Kevin's story (again, Joy The Curious' blog), that he was driving a large car, and he was in DR's driveway after the abduction. Once he came forward with this information to LE, I believe that's when LE started looking at DR's story a little closer. With Kevin's car being a large car, and DR asserting it was not Kevin's car he saw around the time of the abduction - that would bring to (3), the total number of cars that turned around in DR's driveway that day / night. (2 that DR has spoken about, and 1 that Kevin admits to, and presumably that DR did not see).

So, according to DR's story - after dark there was first a small car with a woman in the passenger seat coming through his yard at the time of the abduction. Then there was Kevin's large car with a woman in the passenger seat come through his yard after the abduction, which his dog did not alert him to and DR did not see (or at least not that we've been informed of). And finally, there was the dog waking up DR and alerting him to the searchers with flashlights in the woods.

Here is the problem for DR (again, this is just my opinion of what LE is likely thinking) - How is it that DR was alerted by his dog to the small car coming through the driveway at the time of the abduction, but yet he makes no mention of Kevin's larger car coming through the driveway a few minutes later? Remember, DR called 911 when seeing people with flashlights in the woods, after his dog woke him from his sleep.

From LE's point of view, I think they know that DR saw Kevin's car come through the yard. Furthermore, DR's statement that he saw a woman or child in the passenger seat of the car, and knowing it was very dark outside except for the yard light - that suggests that the yard light was between DR and the passenger side of the car. Otherwise, how could he see anything inside the car? The likelihood that the light was between DR and the car further suggests that DR may have been outside at the time, in or near an outbuilding. I think that LE believes DR saw Kevin's car after the abduction, and that DR made up the story about the other (2) cars that he saw that day / night.

Again, this is not my opinion of what happened, it is only my opinion of what LE's working theory may be. Would like to hear your comments!

 

[Rhett]

OMG! Feeney was an EMT at the time? That would be considered to be a "medical cop" by some people. Especially in a small rural area. Where I live they would be called that by some. Feeney may have been the man at the Tom Thumb that Kevin spoke with.

I wonder if Kevin has ever seen a picture of Feeney from that time period to see if he recognizes Feeney? Might be worth a shot!

 

[Jbrown324320]

ELOCsoul, I am not convinced DR did it, but I believe he knows something more than he is saying. Please check out Joy's blog again. I posted a comment on it and someone commented on my comment. Very interesting.

 

[ELOCsoul]

JBrown - Yes I saw your comments on Joy's blog. What makes you say that Kevin changed his story? I don't think he did - I think it was shoddy reporting that led us to the "belief" that Kevin met the police officer at DR's driveway.

In regards to Feeney - I agree he should be a suspect. He has said he was in the Wetterling neighborhood around the time of the kidnapping. However, it's been reported in the media that LE has ruled him out.

One thing is certain in all of this - all the freaks were out in St Joseph's that night!

 

[shergal]

ELOCsoul, I am not convinced DR did it, but I believe he knows something more than he is saying. Please check out Joy's blog again. I posted a comment on it and someone commented on my comment. Very interesting.

I find it hard to believe though, that someone who had just abducted Jacob would have stopped at the Tom Thumb, and stood around and chatted with folks while having Jacob in the trunk. You'd think if it was really someone in a car, they would have gone the few feet to the highway from the Tom Thumb and been long gone.

In the time it would have take Aaron and Trevor to run down that road or across that huge field in the pitch black night, get into the cul de sac, into their home, tell the babysitter what happened, wait while she calls her dad, then wait while the 911 call is placed... the guy could have been far away.

The same applies, of course, to DR. He would have had plenty of time to hide Jacob inside the house which was never searched.

I'm willing also to accept other theories of who did it. To me, DR seems most guilty because of things he has said himself in his interviews with various media. IMO, he's his own worst enemy. He laughs through interviews, and when asked why he did certain things, instead of explaining them, he smarts off and says "Why wouldn't I?" (I can locate the interviews if you haven't seen them.) I also think LE must have more info that they have never released that makes them keep him as an official POI.

 

[Camille Grace]

I've always thought that the Cold Springs abductor was most likely Jacob's abductor since there were so many similarities between the two cases. Dan Rassier looks nothing like the Cold Springs abductor.
I recently posted these links on Joy's blog. Compare the pictures of pedophile Michael Weber with the sketch of the Cold Springs abductor:
http://www.andersonadvocates.com/Files/599/Partial-timeline-of-Michael-Weberpdf
http://saintautumn.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/jacob-wetterling-abductor-sketch.jpg
http://www.behindthepinecurtain.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/weber_fox.jpg
I wonder if Michael Weber has a low, raspy voice and what kind of car he was driving in 1989?

 

[Jbrown324320]

I thought the Cold Springs abductor was Jacob's abductor too until I researched just how many child sex predators there were in the area and around it at the time of the abduction. It could have been several different people. This case is so frustrating.
I haven't made up my mind about Kevin, but I think he really hindered the investigation and should have come forward right away.
Sometimes the perpetrator sticks around to see the chaos after the crime. This happens a lot in arsons, murders and kidnappings. It would be super risky, especially if someone was in the trunk making noise. But if he threatened Jacob, being a child, he would surely do what the adult told him to do.

 

[KeepHopeAlive]

More from Joy:

http://www.joybaker.com/2013/03/20/the-next-day/

 

[shergal]

Interesting that when DR came out the farm road in the morning, he left his car and walked under the police tape on the road. I sure hope he didn't obliterate any footprints that may have been there next to Jacob's prints.

 

[human]

Jacob was a boy with a lot of confidence and a loving family.

He, of course, could have been tied up and in a vehicle.

The highway that would have been taken is major and leads quickly to many places.

I agree with Sher that DR is his own worst enemy.

Reading about different cases on WS, I am always surprised at how much info LE has. The Powell case really sticks out to me.

I think the search warrants for the DR farm are very telling. I do not think in the age of budget crisis, search warrants of that magnitude would have been granted without some really good cause.

 

[shergal]

Just a reminder why we are all here:
http://www.startribune.com/video/64688382.html#/64688382/video/1/