startribune.com Close window
Police ask searches of industrial sites in hunt for Dru Sjodin
Associated Press
Published 12/08/2003
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- A Grand Forks Police Department spokesman Monday asked that managers of construction and industrial sites search their properties today for anything out of the ordinary.
Capt. Michael Kirby, in a news conference carried on CNN, said that law enforcement agencies have evaluated the search for Dru Sjodin, and this week will target particular areas. No volunteers are needed at this time, he said.
Grand Forks County Sheriff Dan Hill says the search area corresponds with a cell phone signal last detected from Sjodin's cell phone.
Kirby stressed that landowners should check their properties and outbuildings for anything unusual.
He acknowledged that the snow cover and cold will hamper the search for the missing University of North Dakota student.
Meanwhile Monday, more than a dozen searchers climbed aboard all-terrain vehicles near Alvarado, Minn., to continue the search for Sjodin.
Many in the party of friends, family and volunteers had been out for days searching for her. They concentrated their efforts in Alvarado, about 20 miles north of Grand Forks, based on a tip to a Web site about the case.
``I don't have to give them too many instructions anymore,'' said Bob Heales, a private investigator working with the Sjodin family.
One of the searchers was Lowell Sjodin, of Red Wing, Minn., Dru's uncle. He said the group would not give up their search.
``Some of the guys we don't even know,'' he said. ``It's this part of the country, I think. Everyone just pulls together.''
Police believe the 22-year-old Pequot Lakes, Minn., woman was abducted from a shopping mall parking lot in Grand Forks. She has been missing since Nov. 22.
Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, of nearby Crookston, Minn., has been charged with kidnapping in the case. His attorney says Rodriguez told him he had nothing to do with Sjodin's disappearance.
Heales said family and friends took Sunday off because they needed a break. Mike Sjodin, 26, the missing woman's cousin, said he could barely stay awake after two weeks of nonstop searching, and said he had lost weight after hiking through snowy fields and raking out ditches looking for clues.
``Mentally, physically, emotionally, I needed to rest and get some more fuel,'' he said Sunday. ``Eating and sleeping haven't been easy.''
Allan Sjodin, Dru's father, said taking a day off also was stressful.
``It's terrible to wait, wonder and worry,'' he said.
Although the number of investigators has dropped recently, the search for Sjodin is still a priority as investigators quietly pore over leads, Kirby said.
``As we work through these, if we determine there needs to be another large-scale search, we'll coordinate that,'' Kirby said.
The Forum of Fargo, N.D., reported Sunday that Rodriguez's sister, Ileana, called Crookston Police Sgt. Gerry Moreno several times following her brother's completion of a 23-year prison term for stabbing and trying to kidnap a woman. She asked Moreno to keep her brother, who had previously pleaded guilty to rape, locked up or away from the community.
Moreno told The Forum that he wasn't in a position to help her.
``Once a person does their time, they have no ties to probation,'' Moreno said.
Ileana Rodriguez turned to the 26-year police veteran because they grew up together in Crookston. Moreno also went to the same elementary school as Alfonso Rodriguez, and as children they would play together, he said.
Alfonso Rodriguez faces a preliminary hearing Feb. 4, and arraignment on Feb. 6.
© Copyright 2003 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
