MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #12

[Trackergd]

he isn't saying we are stupid, he is saying some local agencies have more knowlege about the subject than others. It sure looks like the crime scene was contaminated to me- from the pictures and from DR's story.

Thank you. And the crime scene was contaminated the moment LE responded to the PLS along with Kevin's tire prints. One piece of yellow tape does not secure a crime scene, but as it has been noted, the knowledge was not at a high level at that time, including the FBI which was limited to tire prints by comparison to their files of tire patterns and foot prints to their files of tread/sole patterns. Almost nothing about pressure releases and indicators. Not saying they were stupid, but in hindsight a little care may have provided a lot more evidence.

 

[Trackergd]

Strange that he didn't take pictures of the tracks and prints for his journals. JMO.

Just a guess here.... Before forensic evaluation would have proven direct knowledge of the crime scene and possible manipulation of evidence and blown his story of not knowing what occurred and when in his driveway. After forensic evaluation would have indicated highly unusual information gathering on a subject not common knowledge outside of a particular skill set.

 

[Trackergd]

The FBI does not play a limited role in a child kidnapping. As far as focusing on a sole person, they have intensely looked at hundreds over 25 years.


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With all due respect, the FBI had only limited activity on the Lauren Jackson case in 1988 and a couple of other cases we worked together on in that same era. I was a Deputy at the time. Local LE was the lead in both cases. They have not been following up on any of them other than evidence I have uncovered and forwarded to them. Most of the evidence I turn up goes to County Detectives. I still communicate with the Lead FBI agent who is now retired. To your point, my experience has been that FBI involvement is not consistent from case to case depending if local LE wishes to remain lead or turn over the case to Federal and a host of other factors involving the details of the case.

 

[thenotebook]

Another thing about the contamination of the driveway and prints....in defense of LE, and whomever else was around, they had no idea that 25 years later this crime would still be unsolved and whatever tracks and prints were on that gravel would be basically our only physical evidence to work with.

We have no other articles of clothing found of Jacob's and no witnesses after Aaron and Trevor. We have such little to work with and those tracks and footprints are priceless.

 

[Mossad]

Forget about tire tracks – Investigators obtained tire evidence sufficient to immediately eliminate suspects

“Grafft, the FBI, and other investigators questioned a man at an Avon, Minn., motel Monday night regarding the kidnapping, but Grafft said the man had an alibi for Sunday night and his car tires did not match prints of car tracks made at the kidnap scene.”

Forget about dogs – they were brought in immediately and found no scent trails leading anywhere

“A dog was unable to find any trail in the area Sunday evening, and on Monday a bloodhound from the Minneapolis Police Department also was unable to follow any trace more than 100 yards from where the boys' bicycles were found in a ditch off 91st Avenue.”

Consider the likelihood that the abducted child died very soon after being kidnapped

"‘We appreciate the help. We have the hope that Jacob is alive,’ said Jerry Wetterling. But he admitted there is the possibility his son is dead.”

Find something worthwhile to pontificate, anguish and argue about, or spend another 25 years spinning your wheels in a farmer’s driveway and regurgitating, swallowing, and then regurgitating again old newspaper articles like that quoted above:

10/24/89 St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) 1A





Prov. 11:14

 

[Sasquatch321]

Forget about tire tracks – Investigators obtained tire evidence sufficient to immediately eliminate suspects

“Grafft, the FBI, and other investigators questioned a man at an Avon, Minn., motel Monday night regarding the kidnapping, but Grafft said the man had an alibi for Sunday night and his car tires did not match prints of car tracks made at the kidnap scene.”

Forget about dogs – they were brought in immediately and found no scent trails leading anywhere

“A dog was unable to find any trail in the area Sunday evening, and on Monday a bloodhound from the Minneapolis Police Department also was unable to follow any trace more than 100 yards from where the boys' bicycles were found in a ditch off 91st Avenue.”

Consider the likelihood that the abducted child died very soon after being kidnapped

"‘We appreciate the help. We have the hope that Jacob is alive,’ said Jerry Wetterling. But he admitted there is the possibility his son is dead.”

Find something worthwhile to pontificate, anguish and argue about, or spend another 25 years spinning your wheels in a farmer’s driveway and regurgitating, swallowing, and then regurgitating again old newspaper articles like that quoted above:

10/24/89 St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) 1A





Prov. 11:14

<modsnip> We would like to see if there is any stop and go in the tire tracks and also a perp footprint in the farmers driveway. We can't be finished there yet.

 

[kemo]

In the community I used to live, a local Physician was long suspected of having killed his wife. A member of Law Enforcement explained to me the situation. A few days before his divorce was to be finalized, and he would owe big bucks, someone broke into his wife's home and killed her and her new boyfriend making it look like a sex crime. It was believed that the Dr. hired a hit a hit man.
The hit man was never identified so no charges were ever filed but the cloud of suspicion never went away. The Dr. continued his practice but it suffered and he had to contend with the rumors and suspicion. There was an assumption that there was "all kinds of evidence" that LE was holding back and either some "Liberal judge" wouldn't let them use it the or the Dr. had some sinister influence that was protecting him? The investigation continued and he was always refered to as the only POI.

Years later, DNA recovered from the wife's body, was found to be identical to that of a still unidentified serial killer who preyed on couples along the California Coast. (Google: East Area Rapist).

Other LE agencies had identified this case as a likely part of the series because the circumstances were so similar but the agency with jurisdiction insisted that it wasn't related. There are suggestions that information was withheld and no cooperation was given to the Statewide task force investigating the Serial Murders.

It turned out that there was absolutely Zero evidence against the Dr. It is true that he had a compelling motive and as a Dr, he had certain amount of "cash" income that could have been kept off the books and he probably had former patients with sketchy backgrounds, but that was it. It seems that his guilt was established based on motive alone and they went from Investigation "mode" to Prosecution "mode".

I am seriously concerned that the same thing is going on here. I am not suggesting that LE exonerate everyone they decline to prosecute but, at the very least, they should lay out all the evidence so that the public might judge for themselves. Obviously, there are times when LE would prefer to "hold back" evidence. Fine, but then they should refrain from identifying that person as a suspect.

 

[nmogren]

Right, but how many people were dismissed solely on the basis of "their tire tracks didn't match" for 14 years. Have all of those people dismissed been looked at again?


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[thenotebook]

Again, why doesn't LE release the description of the perp's footprints? They HAVE to be there right next to Jacob's. The guy didn't float through the air up the driveway. Release the size and possible type of shoe (boot, sneaker, slipper, anything).

 

[human]

&#8220;As they were asking me where&#8230; about 15 horses were prancing about the area where the tracks had been all week! The detectives made NO effort to preserve the site&#8230;. they just didn&#8217;t seem to care much about it! I was thinking&#8230; do these guys know what they are doing???&#8221;

http://www.joybaker.com/2013/04/01/a-few-answers-many-more-questions/


So day to day for a week DR took notice that suspicious tire tracks were still there and never pointed that out to them? He just figured they didn't care?

Once the crime scene is looked at, it is released.

Think of other cases on WS. Sometimes the scene is cleared in hours.

 

[human]

Don't be so defensive...if you're secure in your position...you don't need to shout to defend it. LE is not perfect...but they are not nincompoops either....they're people. People make mistakes. DR walked "up the hill" and conversed with Officer Bruce Bechtold....right there he contaminated the scene walking on the driveway. Whose fault is that? IDK. But early in the investigation it may be that LE did not realize that there was a possibility that the crime scene could extend beyond the intersection of 16th + DR's driveway and so focused only on the immediate area...not thinking of the possibility of the potentiality of the crime scene being extended. Just because some of us here(with 20/20 hindsight) question LE's handling of the site doesn't mean we're throwing LE out with the bath water(investigating the crime scene in the black of night would not be an easy task)....we're simply processing the info...and thinking out loud via Websleuths.

I don't get it. Sher posted the article that says that they took prints at 1:00 AM.

So how long are they supposed to protect the scene? Days? months?

 

[human]

DR stated he saw a small car.

Kevin's GF car was large.

LE knows from the width of the car tire tracks that the small car DR described could not be the one.

Does the Catholic church have encrytion abilities? I wonder if computers at the Abbey are encrypted.

 

[Mossad]

&#8220;At WS, TOS requires that speculation be based on fact, which means linking information to an accepted and credible source.&#8221;

<modsnip>

Simple threadiquette, if not Forum Rules, should require a forum poster to cite something objectively verifiable to back up supposedly factual statements like:

&#8220;The man was a recently released sex offender&#8221;

&#8220;LE dismissed other cars due to tire tracks not matching.&#8221;

&#8220;The FBI was sitting on lake Koronis&#8221;

&#8220;was most definitely a suspect in all the cases early on&#8221;

&#8220;assaulted upwards of 40 boys and men in the area&#8221;

&#8220;A man in his 40's, let's call him L, is lovers with another, younger man, let's call him D. D may or may not have worked at Gary's Pizza in 1989.&#8221;

&#8220;the FBI sought one vehicle. Interestingly enough&#8230;.they never went public with the search for that vehicle&#8221;

<modsnip>

Prov. 11:14

 

[Trino]

Aha. LE contacted this virus. That's why the case hasn't been solved.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/stupidity-virus-discovered-scientists/story?id=26834631

 

[ELOCsoul]

&#8220;At WS, TOS requires that speculation be based on fact, which means linking information to an accepted and credible source.&#8221;

<modsnip>

Simple threadiquette, if not Forum Rules, should require a forum poster to cite something objectively verifiable to back up supposedly factual statements like:

&#8220;The man was a recently released sex offender&#8221;

&#8220;LE dismissed other cars due to tire tracks not matching.&#8221;

&#8220;The FBI was sitting on lake Koronis&#8221;

&#8220;was most definitely a suspect in all the cases early on&#8221;

&#8220;assaulted upwards of 40 boys and men in the area&#8221;

&#8220;A man in his 40's, let's call him L, is lovers with another, younger man, let's call him D. D may or may not have worked at Gary's Pizza in 1989.&#8221;

&#8220;the FBI sought one vehicle. Interestingly enough&#8230;.they never went public with the search for that vehicle&#8221;

<modsnip>

Prov. 11:14

Some of the info was from the same date, 10/24/89, but the St. Cloud Times. In addition to the man from the Avon motel, recently released inmates from the St. Cloud reformatory who had been convicted of sex crimes were investigated. One of the men was surveilled but his car tire treads did not match those at the crime scene.

Other cars that were looked at early on were dismissed for the same reason.

Hart was investigated early on according to several newspaper articles from January/Febuary 1990.

What I meant by the reference to not going public with the search for the one vehicle, is that they never publicly asked for help in finding the vehicle Rassier said he saw that night. I thought that was odd, given that LE asked for help in identifying several other vehicles that were up to 6 blocks away, and up to 2 weeks prior to the abduction. Why not ask for the one Rassier said he saw??

Everything else I've found out by doing real research, as you suggested.

 

[chaplain1]

ELOC--anticipate enjoying your book! Any publishing date yet?

 

[cGorg]

I don't get it. Sher posted the article that says that they took prints at 1:00 AM.

So how long are they supposed to protect the scene? Days? months?

IDK the standard LE protocol....but it would seem as a minimum the following day to observe the crime scene in broad daylight.

 

[ELOCsoul]

ELOC--anticipate enjoying your book! Any publishing date yet?

No publishing date yet. I've been focused on gathering information and writing, and haven't explored the publishing end of things much yet. Most likely it will be self-published through one of the several providers out there. My goal is to have it released by April 15. Thanks for your interest!!

I do have a book cover ready, if that helps?

https://www.facebook.com/searchingforjacob?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

 

[Trackergd]

Another thing about the contamination of the driveway and prints....in defense of LE, and whomever else was around, they had no idea that 25 years later this crime would still be unsolved and whatever tracks and prints were on that gravel would be basically our only physical evidence to work with.

We have no other articles of clothing found of Jacob's and no witnesses after Aaron and Trevor. We have such little to work with and those tracks and footprints are priceless.

I agree 100%

 

[Trackergd]

Forget about tire tracks – Investigators obtained tire evidence sufficient to immediately eliminate suspects

“Grafft, the FBI, and other investigators questioned a man at an Avon, Minn., motel Monday night regarding the kidnapping, but Grafft said the man had an alibi for Sunday night and his car tires did not match prints of car tracks made at the kidnap scene.”

Quite simply, BS.

Forget about dogs – they were brought in immediately and found no scent trails leading anywhere

“A dog was unable to find any trail in the area Sunday evening, and on Monday a bloodhound from the Minneapolis Police Department also was unable to follow any trace more than 100 yards from where the boys' bicycles were found in a ditch off 91st Avenue.”

Back to my point about being removed by other means of transport. No skin flakes for the dog to scent on.

Consider the likelihood that the abducted child died very soon after being kidnapped

"‘We appreciate the help. We have the hope that Jacob is alive,’ said Jerry Wetterling. But he admitted there is the possibility his son is dead.”

Find something worthwhile to pontificate, anguish and argue about, or spend another 25 years spinning your wheels in a farmer’s driveway and regurgitating, swallowing, and then regurgitating again old newspaper articles like that quoted above:

10/24/89 St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) 1A

Prov. 11:14

Consider you don't know if his is dead or alive.