Remains found confirmed as Jacob Wetterling/Suspect led LE to Remains #1

[IBsleuthin]

We have been!

While we are at it. Wouldn't you think when the construction workers or the farmer or whoever owned the bobcat came back to work they would NOTICE that it had been moved, be able to see the tracks in the gravel and that there had obviously been something LARGE buried there?

Over morning coffee, "Hey Jim; did you dig a hole around the side there and fill it back in?" I just cannot imagine all of this but then, I like to think that I am very aware of my surroundings.

 

[Inthedetails]

While we are at it. Wouldn't you think when the construction workers or the farmer or whoever owned the bobcat came back to work they would NOTICE that it had been moved, be able to see the tracks in the gravel and that there had obviously been something LARGE buried there?

Over morning coffee, "Hey Jim; did you dig a hole around the side there and fill it back in?" I just cannot imagine all of this but then, I like to think that I am very aware of my surroundings.

I would think someone noticed the bobcat had been moved.

And, I'm curious how the perp knew where the keys were. Had he used the bobcat before for anything?

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

How amazing is Patty Wetterling to be able to stand and give such a statement after hearing things about her son's final moments that filled complete strangers with grief and horror?

To have the presence of mind to gratefully acknowledge JS and the Paynesville victims. To even gracefully thank the defense attorneys who worked on the plea deal. To end by talking of the work to do to protect other kids.

In a world where there are people like the man who did this, there are also people like her.

I completely agree!

It's almost overwhelming that out of this horrible tragedy, such a strong, helpful person rises up. I count Patty among the heroes.

If she can be the person she is with the heartbreaking tragedy she has endured, what can the rest of us accomplish? Very inspirational.

jmo

 

[otto]

Paynesville, MN to Des Moines, IA is only about a 4.5 hr drive.

Just saying.

John Gosch Sept. 5 1982

Eugene Martin Aug. 12 1984

Marcus James Warren Allen March 29 1986.

All from Des Moines, IA.

Can we think of any reason for him to go there for work?

 

[zencompass]

So true. But what we do here on WS is speculate. Happens all the time. If we only talked about facts we know or could prove, it would be pretty quiet around here. There are years of discussion about Jacob - years and years of speculation.

The sentence this guy got doesn't interest me. Speculating if he will die or be killed in jail doesn't interest me. Talking about jail conditions and state vs. fed facilities doesn't interest me. So, I usually read those posts without responding and with appreciation that others ARE interested in those topics - and a healthy mix of topics is great for discussions. I've certainly changed my mind on some cases because of reading posts that I at first disagreed with or by reading posts that at first I thought were irrelevant.

And, we have the TOS, which include not to telling others how to post.

jmo

Hi Inthedetails,

Your post really lines up with my thoughts.

The only thing I care about regarding this monster is that he is off the streets and whether he was charged with the murder or not, he confessed
which is what really matters at the end of the day.

I cannot even begin to imagine what the family is going through and what they have been through during the past 27 years.
Knowing that a child was not tortured for ten years can be somewhat of a relief to a family who have had tormented thoughts
about what happened to their child or was still happening..I truly don't know if I could have survived this as a parent. I truly don't know.

This family was and is strong in love and support. What they have accomplished with the sex offender registries has saved lives.

So, at the end of the day there are answers for this family and I never thought there would be.. A monster is off the street.

A loving family can finally bury their son and brother.

It is not the ending anyone wanted to hear but the nightmare of not knowing is over..

The compassion and genuine caring shone through in all of the posts on these threads for Jacob and his family. Many times we speculate and
try to "think outside the box" - just as law enforcement must - that along with objectivity can and does solve cases.

Websleuths is truly a caring, compassionate and vital website. Sometimes I find comfort in the threads on this site and it is because of the community
here. Aside from learning facts and reading others' opinions, the most important thing I can ever take away from this site is the human
compassion which flows through all of the posts. Thank you to everyone on this site - you overwhelmingly remind me of my faith in humanity.

Sending prayers of love and comfort to Jacob's family.

 

[otto]

Did I tell somebody not to post something? If you want to discuss the bobcat, by all means discuss the bobcat.

I don't believe the story that the violent, sexual predator provided to the court except for the facts that he is guilty of abduction, sexual assault, and that he shot Jacob in the head. Those point will be true because there are facts to support that information. Beyond that, Heinrich claims that he did not rape Jacob. That's simply not true. Anything he said that cannot be verified ... what is there to say about it? It's convoluted information - reminds me of Casey Athony's spinning webs regarding her murdered daughter.

 

[Ifollowthis]

The only way to figure out if his story is full of lies is to see if it matches up with evidence. So far what he told authorities checked out. The found the body and the clothing. He told them what the cause of death was, so presumably that checked out too. One can not prove if the story is full of lies based on the details that could never be checked out.

As big of a yuk as this guy is, I do believe what he said in court was true. FBI agent Lager(sp) implied that they had checked out story. I doubt his attorneys would go into a plea bargain deal not making sure everything he said on the stand was verifiable, for the reason they had to protect their client from possible purgery charges and the possibility of ruining the "deal" he had going to escape murder charges. I know it is hard to believe this jerk, but he had attorneys and it sounds like they were not the rookie public defenders.

 

[otto]

As big of a yuk as this guy is, I do believe what he said in court was true. FBI agent Lager(sp) implied that they had checked out story. I doubt his attorneys would go into a plea bargain deal not making sure everything he said on the stand was verifiable, for the reason they had to protect their client from possible purgery charges and the possibility of ruining the "deal" he had going to escape murder charges. I know it is hard to believe this jerk, but he had attorneys and it sounds like they were not the rookie public defenders.

Why do you believe that he did not rape Jacob?

 

[IDK]

Snipped

Wonder if he picked that spot because the construction place was nearby?

Yes, I know he said he had his own shovel that didn't do the job....but just because he said it doesn't make it true. Maybe he intended to use the bobcat all along. In any case, he was familiar enough with the place to know where the keys were.

I hope LE is going over the site with a fine-tooth comb looking for others who are missing.

I agree, especially with the bolded. However, I was surprised in all the photos shown near the site, there doesn't appear to be any crime scene tape. It doesn't look at all like the area is being investigated further. Usually you would see tents set up, areas cordoned off and investigators all over the place. I haven't seen any of that.

 

[Chewy]

That he admitted to forcing a child commit oral sex on him was so horrifying to me. Had he raped the boy I would imagine that would be easier to handle in some way because he's sorcing himself on the child not the child to do something to him. So I would think if he raped him he would have just said that and left out the oral sex. But then again there may be some legal distinction between the two that caused him to say it.

How sad is it that when I heard this I could think of nothing more horrible for that poor child. Then here someone said he could have kept him and done it for years. I never thought of that but it is so true. There's even worse.

His mother's were so simple. When she said she was sorry to him my heart broke for her.

 

[fizzypop]

While we are at it. Wouldn't you think when the construction workers or the farmer or whoever owned the bobcat came back to work they would NOTICE that it had been moved, be able to see the tracks in the gravel and that there had obviously been something LARGE buried there?

Over morning coffee, "Hey Jim; did you dig a hole around the side there and fill it back in?" I just cannot imagine all of this but then, I like to think that I am very aware of my surroundings.

Depends on how many people had access to the Bobcat and what kind of an area we are talking about. I've seen Bobcats out that have tracks all around them that you would never be able to make heads or tails out of. If Bob left for the day but Joe and Ken were still working and the Bobcat was in a slightly different position than it had been no one might have noticed. I don't know that I would have. Also, from what I gather, he didn't just take the Bobcat 20 feet and dig a grave where it would be seen, he took it a fair distance, so again, they might not have been working in the area where he dug.

Out in the country like that, which he probably knew very well, he was probably better off taking the Bobcat and getting the job done quickly, instead of taking the time to dig out a grave by hand. Still doesn't sound like he did the worlds greatest job since it was disturbed and needed to be moved. Not that I think about this but if I had a Bobcat I'd dig as deep as I possibly could. But I think luck had a lot more to do with him getting away with this for so long, much more than any "smarts" he might have possessed.

 

[Mdcastle]

After 27 years, nobody ever is going to be able to prove if he used the Bobcat or not.

Question: Mr Jones, were you the owner of Jones Company Excavating of Paynesville, MN on October 22, 1989?
Answer: Yes
Question: Did you at the time own one or more Bobcat brand excavators?
Answer: Yes
Question: On or about the morning of October 23, 1989 was one of the Bobcats moved a few feet from where it was left, was there any dirt on it not present the previous day, was there less fuel in the tank, or were the keys in a different arrangement?

 

[Ifollowthis]

Why do you believe that he did not rape Jacob?

I think he did, depends on your definition of rape, I guess..........

 

[Mariposa]

Question: Mr Jones, were you the owner of Jones Company Excavating of Paynesville, MN on October 22, 1989?
Answer: Yes
Question: Did you at the time own one or more Bobcat brand excavators?
Answer: Yes
Question: On or about the morning of October 23, 1989 was one of the Bobcats moved a few feet from where it was left, was there any dirt on it not present the previous day, was there less fuel in the tank, or were the keys in a different arrangement?

That was 27 years ago, though. I strongly doubt even if they could identify and find who to question about this that they retain any memory of that. Even if it was 2.7 years later memory would be an issue.

 

[katydid23]

I would think someone noticed the bobcat had been moved.

And, I'm curious how the perp knew where the keys were. Had he used the bobcat before for anything?

jmo

YES. I find that very curious. How would he know where the keys were to that bobcat? And just the fact that he knew how to use one to dig a hole, and felt comfortable doing so, and possibly calling attention to himself in the middle of the night, with a dead body, ----kind of astounding actually. He seems like a brazen moron.

 

[human]

What would be the reason for him to make it up?

Because he is a pathological liar

 

[Inthedetails]

Question: Mr Jones, were you the owner of Jones Company Excavating of Paynesville, MN on October 22, 1989?
Answer: Yes
Question: Did you at the time own one or more Bobcat brand excavators?
Answer: Yes
Question: On or about the morning of October 23, 1989 was one of the Bobcats moved a few feet from where it was left, was there any dirt on it not present the previous day, was there less fuel in the tank, or were the keys in a different arrangement?

I am curious that since the perp knew where the bobcat was and knew where the keys were, that perhaps he chose that particular place to bring his victim because he had access to the bobcat....and that makes me wonder if killing and burying his victim was the plan all along....and that makes me wonder if there were other such victims, either in that spot or elsewhere.

Sure, it's easy to poke fun of ideas. I get it.

jmo

 

[Mdcastle]

That was 27 years ago, though. I strongly doubt even if they could identify and find who to question about this that they retain any memory of that. Even if it was 2.7 years later memory would be an issue.

I should have made it clearer but that was really my point, how ridiculous that line of questioning would be almost 30 years later. No one is going to remember something like that even if they noticed it at the time. Even if they had noticed they'd probably attribute it to bored country kids joyriding, not evidence to a missing kid 30 miles away. Why call the cops when you have your expensive Bobcat back safe and sound and it's probably impossible to tell who did it, just hide the keys better so it doesn't happen again.

 

[human]

For them to search for more remains in that area, there would have to be somebody missing in the area that fits his MO, and I don't think this is the case. So who would they be looking for?

So it is felt there is no point in examining the original burial site? Just forget about it?

 

[Inthedetails]

I should have made it clearer but that was really my point, how ridiculous that line of questioning would be almost 30 years later. No one is going to remember something like that even if they noticed it at the time. Even if they had noticed they'd probably attribute it to bored country kids joyriding, not evidence to a missing kid 30 miles away. Why call the cops when you have your expensive Bobcat back safe and sound and it's probably impossible to tell who did it, just hide the keys better so it doesn't happen again.

There is more to the bobcat detail than someone remembering if it was moved that particular night. I agree with you that it would be difficult to prove that now with evidence.

But I am curious how the perp knew about the keys, has he stolen it before or after, why did he chose that particular place to bring Jacob, etc. Could there be more victims either there or elsewhere with a similar MO? Why did he, that night, think of using a stolen bobcat to dig a hole. I find that detail rather surprising. I totally get that others think it's a non-issue, but come on....weren't you surprised to learn about it? (If he's telling the truth, which I don't even know if he is!)

jmo