ND - Dru Sjodin, 22, Grand Forks, 22 Nov 2003 - #2

Originally posted by Yakwoman
I saw his victim from 23 years ago on TV last night. She said that he approached her with a knife and said "Get in the car or I'll kill you." He probably did the same thing with Dru.

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Very likely and Dru's disappearance is a reason one should never, if at all possible, allow themselves to be removed from the first crime scene. You may risk injury but imagine what you risk if you are taken off to a secluded place. Imagine the terror!

My heart goes out to her family and it's unfortunate but as often as these things happen, it could be any of us or our loved ones!

Geesh! I really messed that up...:blushing:

that last part was suppose to say....I wonder if the car keys or the cell phone could have been the "unidentified item of evidence" that police found in the back seat of AR's car...

Sorry about that

I wonder why they use the term "unidentified" ?

:dontknow:

Why not just say what it is?

Cass...

Very interesting article.

I will dwell on it at a later date..............I'm sooooooo sleepy.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4265485.html

As far as Dru going with the perp from the mall and not screaming or fighting, consider that she may not have been able to scream or fight. It sounds like speaker wire found near her car was a match to wire found at Rodriguez's home. If the perp grabbed her from behind and put the wire around her neck, she may have lost consciousness within seconds, depending on the force he used. I don't understand the connection between the knife and the speaker wire and how the perp could have used both. But, LE hasn't found blood at the mall scene.

For all we know, he may not care much if they are still alive or not. I just assumed he would want her while she was alive.
Wire around her throat in the parking lot? He may not have relaxed the pressure in time.

Originally posted by ronigrrl
Toth, you said:

...training from his military service in Korea came back to him: "unless you can run faster than the bullet, don't run away from a man with a firearm, run toward him."

Can I ask the rationale behind the running toward him? Is it b/c it throws him off, or some other reason? Thanks!!

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Toth can you elaborate?

Run toward danger, not away from it.

The man who was being rellieved of his wallet at gunpoint and heard the robber jack a shell up into the chamber knew the robber was about to shoot. The victim had the choice of foolishly trying to run away from danger and somehow hope that he would be able to run faster than the bullet or he could turn and confront the attacker, close the distance between them and take his chances. Running away from a man who has a firearm rarely puts you in a safer condition. Sure he may miss and maybe you will zig when he thought you were going to zag but you are not going to be running faster than the bullets, so why run away? Run towards him and eliminate the threat. You can die attacking or you can die retreating. Attacking is better.

Possibly the speaker wire was for tying her up and securing her.........sounds like he intended to keep her for awhile.........also it wouldn't look as odd for him to be buying speaker wire versus rope (being he's a Class three sex offender) Wonder what gauge of wire it was, as in automotive or home....another thought is since the speaker wire is plastic coated, blood wouldn't adhere to the wire and also if he throws her in the river tied to something heavy the wire would last virtually forever!

The other item found which was unidentified sounds more like something that they weren't sure of its origin, identity or that it may implicate an accomplice (I don't believe he had someone with him but offenders to tend to flock together while in prison and once they get out)

Good morning all! I was reading the Finddru...website this morning and came upon something I'd like to share. A few of the poster's were talking about what kind of weapon, so to speak (including guns) that we women could use to protect ourselves. Here is one of the posts........that I think I liked the
best. I"m going to check today to see who sells these. I'll get back with price's later.
xxxxxoo
mama

Dru's website: http://www.finddru.com/


Posted by Kathyann......on Dru's website

I have one of the Personal Alarm Systems that the other post mentioned. I bought it after I lost a friend. I have had it for 5 years now. It is on my key ring and it is painfully loud!!! It is small and has never malfunctioned. I have only used it once in the 5 years I have had it. I was leaving a nightclub about 2 years ago. My car was parked near the front, so I thought that I was safe to leave alone. A man tried to get into my car as I was shutting the door and I pulled the alarm. It was so loud that the door man came running and the guy ran off. You can definitely tell it is not a car alarm.

I don't find this gives me a false sense of security, I still stay aware, but there are times when you are just going to be alone or be vulnerable, that is life. We don't always have our guard up. This is a really easy option for added security.

The alarm looks like a short pen, with the grip material on the outside and when you pull it apart. WOW, I mean loud!! When I used it I was a bit confused and trying to push the guy out of the car and I was still able to use the alarm. So I can attest that it worked in this case.

I just wanted to share this because I read the posts about knives, pepper spray and so forth. I really think that in the moment pepper spray would be hard to use, find and easy to forget, your keys are usually always with you.

The alarm just says PAS on it, it is not marked other than that. I don't have the box anymore, but I bought it at an electronics store. I am sure they are still being sold and you can find various versions as the other girl mentioned that her grandmother gave one to her. Just an idea, I am glad that I had it!!!

I don't think that Rodriguez had an accomplice, since I doubt that he had any friends or even acquaintances. It sounds like all his interaction - probably very little at at that - was with his mother and sister. How could they have felt safe around him?

While I don't know his mother and sister, you have to feel sorry for them living/working in this community.

Mama,

My uncle is a police officer and he has always told me that women should carry two things...pepper spray and an alarm. (like the one you mentioned) He's seen too many things so he is very protective of the ladies in his family.

I have to say the alarm is amazingly loud and has such a weird sound that you can't help but notice it. Good to have.

The other thing my uncle said is for women to use whatever they can to NOT leave point A. He says throw your shopping bags at them, poke em with your keys, kick em in the knee, groin, anywhere to cause pain. He said if you can get a punch in the throat take it and take it hard. The pain is severe and will give a few seconds to RUN! He just said no matter what make noise and lots of it...most perps don't like noisy victims. So his phrase is "go down fighting". He said Kira if you leave point A and he gets you to point B...you'll never be seen alive again.

So invest in the alarms...they're worth it.

Prayers for Dru~

Kira I have to agree with you. I took a great self-defense class. The throat is one of the most vulnerable spots on the human body. If you hit it, even without tremendous force, it will cause their throat to swell and they will have a hard time catching their breath. If you hit it hard, their throat could swell shut and you can kill them. It may take a couple of minutes for the swelling to take place, but it will stop them.

You can test this by just pressing on your own throat at different spots. You can feel how it inhibits your breathing.

Elle,

Yeah it really is a vulnerable and sensitive spot on the body.
When my uncle told me about this he said just tap yourself
on the throat. So I did. Just that tap, given by myself, hurt.
So he said imagine the pain you could inflict...if you had to.
I've always remembered that. "Go for the throat."

Good advice. Thanks for the "second". Good info like this
hopefully will save someone's life.

Prayers for Dru~

The recent news reports have had a great deal of inforrrmation.

Now we do know that Dru was in the back seat on the right side. She undoubtedly made the scartches, with a credit card, possibly, on the rear passenger window.

There was evidence taken from the rear passenger seat, cut out. Also blood evidence.

The plastic wire, that a Policeofficer over looked on the first day, and, retrieved the next day near where Dru's car was in the Mall Parking lot. It matched simailar wire in AR's garage.

Dru was seen by the security camera leaving the Mall.

Several other woman have tipped the police that prior to Dru's disappearance, they had been frightened by a man very similar to AR in various parking lots.

In the home of AR, where found, blood spots in garage, light colored hairs in the house. Blood and hair in the trunk of his Mercury Sable.

It seems as tho he had a three hour window of oppurtunity, as per his Mother. Dru was kidnapped at approx. 5opm, he supposedly returned home at 8:30 pm. That is if we can believe the mother.

So...how was AR able to subdue, a strong young woman?

Did he use the thin plastic covered wire around her throat?

Did he have the knife at her throat?

Why was she unable to scream or fight him off?

I am puzzled by all previous questions.

I do not believe the creep had an accomplice.

Why is the black shoe of Dru's near the river?

WHERE IS DRU?

You should never carry any sort of weapon unless you both know how to use it and are prepared to use it.

Alot of women will carry a pistol and in time of trouble even take it out, and yell 'stop' only to have an attacker simply take it away from them; they simply were not emotionally prepared to keep their yap shut and blow the attacker away!

That is why alot of target ranges now require as sort of a 'graduation exercise' that a female who has been shooting at a paper target for weeks must shoot at a large can of tomato juice.

Wow...sorry for all the mis spelling....yikes

The thin plastic wire is very strong and would hurt if you tried to pull against it........when I speak of someone else ...these perps many times get there ideas from others like themselves. These are the only people who will hang around them for one and many times they are more or less forced to hang around them. Think about it .....an afluent neighborhood wouldn't allow this guy to even breathe about living in there neighborhood and he also would be limited to the types of jobs he could aquire, and so would the other sexual offenders......(makes you wonder who's working on your house, yard, car, picking up your trash etc.) Remember that most abductions happen with four blocks of their homes (within your area of safety) which I'm sure Dru felt safe where her car probably was parked every day.

I'll post the FBI information about these profiles once I find them.

Retrospective profiles are amazing on how they narrow in on these freaks.