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A DNA link is made in Sjodin case
Chuck Haga and Matt McKinney
Star Tribune
Published 12/09/2003
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- A preliminary DNA analysis of blood found in Alfonso Rodriguez's car matches DNA taken from a toothbrush belonging to missing North Dakota college student Dru Sjodin, two sources close to the investigation told the Star Tribune on Monday.
They and a third source close to the investigation confirmed Monday that investigators had found a knife in Rodriguez's car in a search conducted on Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving.
The knife, along with blood samples and a knife sheath that was discovered near Sjodin's car, are the main pieces of evidence tying Rodriguez to the crime, the sources said.
Along with some additional circumstantial evidence, that evidence has been sealed under a judge's order since investigators arrested the 50-year-old convicted sex offender at his home in Crookston, Minn., more than a week ago.
Searchers look for Dru Sjodin northeast of Grand Forks.
Mike Zerby
Star Tribune
Rodriguez was released from prison in May after serving a 23-year sentence for attempted kidnapping and assault.
Rodriguez said through his attorney on Friday that he was not responsible for Sjodin's disappearance.
"I did not kidnap her," defense attorney David Dusek quoted Rodriguez as saying during their third jailhouse conversation.
Dusek, who was appointed to represent Rodriguez just two hours before his first Grand Forks court appearance on Thursday, could not be reached for comment Monday night.
The knife found in Rodriguez's car belongs to a sheath that comes in a set, one of the sources said. The sheath was located early in the investigation near Sjodin's car, which was parked near the entrance to the J.C. Penney store in the Columbia Mall. Sjodin had left work at the Victoria's Secret store and shopped at another store in the mall before going to her car.
The sheath could only belong to a particular knife sold exclusively in a home improvement store in Grand Forks as a set, one of the sources said. "So the person who dropped this sheath had the knife."
The source described the knife as a folding buck knife -- an oversized jackknife -- with a blade 4 to 5 inches long.
A knife matching the knife that authorities knew went with that sheath was found when Rodriguez's car was searched. It was taken for processing by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which made the preliminary DNA match a few days later, the source said.
Thanksgiving search
Rodriguez was identified as a suspect because of his status as a Level 3 sex offender required to register his address with Minnesota authorities, the source said.
"We didn't focus 100 percent on him -- we were following other leads, too -- but with the knife, we thought, 'This is the type of guy who did this before,' " the source said.
Rodriguez used a knife in one of the assaults for which he served time.
The first search warrant on Rodriguez's Crookston residence, which he shared with his mother, was done at 4:40 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day by members of a multiagency task force based at the Grand Forks Police Department. Evidence collected was sent to a crime lab for analysis.
A second search was conducted several days later by a forensic team.
The first search warrant also authorized investigators to search Rodriguez and his car. The day after Thanksgiving, the car was taken to the BCA office in Bemidji for processing.
One of the investigative sources who spoke with the Star Tribune said that "blood and/or a biological substance was located inside the vehicle, and a preliminary examination states the DNA found in his car matches DNA taken from a toothbrush belonging to Dru."
A second source confirmed that the substance found was blood.
"We know that we have our man," one of the sources said.
He said that a small amount of blood was visible in the car.
He said that Sjodin family members normally would have been told immediately about such ominous developments, "but they may not have wanted to be told because they wanted to keep hope alive."
Allan Sjodin, Dru's father, said Monday that reports of police recovering a knife from Rodriguez's car shocked him, but "It's probably true," he told the Associated Press. "That's his modus operandi."
Constantly watched
Rodriguez was under constant surveillance by FBI agents and others once he was identified as a suspect, one of the sources said. "We wanted to make sure we had the right guy before we arrested him, but he was no longer a threat to the public."
All three sources expressed frustration that the evidence had been sealed, sparking rumors and the leaking of bits and pieces of incomplete and occasionally incorrect information.
"This should have been out a long time ago," one of the sources said. "People have been panicking and afraid to go to the mall. Their lives have been put on hold."
Sjodin, 22, of Pequot Lakes, Minn., went missing Nov. 22. Some 25 family and friends of Sjodin continued to search for her on Monday following a tip that came to the
http://www.finddru.comWeb site. The tip was that Rodriguez enjoyed visiting the town of Alvarado, Minn., about 20 miles north of East Grand Forks.
"The guy liked this town; that was the tip," said Rick Weyhrauch, of Crosslake, Minn., a friend of Sjodin's boyfriend.
Volunteers fanned out on ATVs along a stretch of road north of the small community. They focused on abandoned buildings, Weyhrauch said.
Temperatures hovered below freezing on Monday with strong winds pushing snow across open fields near the search area. As temperatures drop in the days ahead, searchers will have to take extra precautions, said Mike Sjodin, a cousin of Dru Sjodin's.
"I heard it's supposed to be four-below on Wednesday," he said. "We might have to come up with a new game plan because we don't want anybody to get hurt. We don't need another tragedy."
Grand Forks police Capt. Mike Kirby said at a news briefing Monday afternoon that police were again asking homeowners in the region to check their property for anything unusual. He said police were especially interested in searching construction sites.
He spoke after a morning meeting of law enforcement agencies participating in the search, including the Border Patrol, local police and sheriff's offices and the FBI. The meeting was meant to coordinate the search effort and determine where police would look next, Kirby said.
The writers are at
crhaga@startribune.com and
mmckinney@startribune.com.
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