www.justiceforchandra.com Forum Index www.justiceforchandra.com
Justice for Chandra Levy and missing women
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Dru Sjodin disappeared after leaving her job at North Dakota
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    www.justiceforchandra.com Forum Index -> Jennifer Kesse and similar disappearances
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 4:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks like they're closing in on finding Dru and convicting her killer. Do we have to see another young woman murdered before we start electonically monitoring sexual offenders on probation?

rd


from abcnews.go.com (fair use)

Sheriff: DNA Matches Missing Student's
Sheriff Confirms Preliminary DNA Match of Blood Found in Suspect's Car As Missing Student's

The Associated Press


GRAND FORKS, N.D. Dec. 9 — Blood found in the car of a suspect in the disappearance of a college student was a preliminary DNA match for the missing student, Grand Forks County Sheriff Dan Hill said Tuesday.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Hill also revealed that searchers found a shoe of Dru Sjodin's near the Red Lake River early in the week after she disappeared. Sjodin was last heard from Nov. 22, calling her boyfriend on a cellphone from a Grand Forks mall parking lot.

The shoe was identified by a college roommate of Sjodin's, a University of North Dakota student from Pequot Lakes, Minn. It's the only piece of clothing recovered so far, Hill said.

Hill also said he thinks it unlikely that Sjodin is still alive.

"I certainly hate to be discouraging to the family or anyone, but it looks to me now that it's more of a recovery mission than a rescue," Hill said.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 5:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

from washingtontimes.com (fair use)

Dru Sjodin's shoe said found near river

GRAND FORKS, N.D., Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Searchers have identified a woman's shoe found near a North Dakota river as likely belonging to missing college student Dru Sjodin.

Fox News said Tuesday one of Sjodin's roommates identified the shoe as matching one that Sjodin owned. Grand Forks County Sheriff Dan Hill said divers were searching the frigid Red Lake River for any other signs of the missing woman.

Sjodin disappeared from a Grand Forks mall Nov. 22. A suspect named Alfonso Rodriguez has been arrested. Bloodstains and a knife were reportedly found in Rodriguez's car.

The Grand Forks Herald said the knife was discovered in a wheel well soaking in a cleaning solution.

The governors of North Dakota and Minnesota planned to hold a news conference later Tuesday to announce the deployment of National Guard troops to help look for Sjodin.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
jane



Joined: 22 Sep 2002
Posts: 3225

PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dru, sorry you never had a chance to fulfill all your dreams after graduation.
_________________
"There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known."
Christ
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2003 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The murderer was back home 3 hours and 15 minutes after Dru was kidnapped. That means her cellphone is likely still within range of the tower where they were searching. He could have seen the news about the phone and come and looked for it himself, but I imagine the police were counting on that and looking for the killer to show back up in the area.

For the cellphone to keep transmitting means it was not dumped in water. I don't know if it's still with her, but the article says they're now searching under a bridge.

rd


from www.local6.com (fair use)

National Guard Joins Search For Missing Student
Bitter Cold Makes Search Difficult
POSTED: 6:38 a.m. EST December 12, 2003

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The search for Dru Sjodin continued Friday in abandoned buildings, ditches and an ice-covered North Dakota river.

About 300 people helped in the search, including National Guard troops who lowered cameras through holes drilled in the Red River.

A Guard spokesman said the search is "going to be slow and steady." He wouldn't say why teams were searching under a bridge about 10 miles south of Grand Forks.

Buildings, roads and ditches were also given the once-over about 20 miles south of the town.

Wrapped in insulated gear and traveling in Humvees, the troops are targeting isolated areas.

Sjodin, 22, of Pequot Lakes, Minn., has been missing since she left work at a Grand Forks mall Nov. 22, when her boyfriend -- in a cell phone conversation -- heard her scream "Oh my God!" before the line went dead.

Alfonso Rodriguez, 50, of Crookston, Minn., was charged earlier this month with kidnapping. Authorities have a preliminary match of blood found in his with DNA from the missing University of North Dakota student.

Rodriguez was released from prison in May after serving a 23-year sentence for attempted kidnapping and assault. He said through his attorney last week that he was not responsible for Sjodin's disappearance.

Search Warrant Unsealed

A search warrant shows about a three-hour gap between the time a Sjodin disappeared and Rodriguez appeared at his home.

The warrant was unsealed Friday in Crookston, Minn., and reported by The Forum of Fargo.

The search warrant indicates Rodriguez's mother told police he was at their Crookston home at about 8:15 p.m. the night Sjodin disappeared last month. Sjodin was last heard from around 5 p.m. the same day.

An affidavit unsealed Tuesday showed Rodriguez told authorities he had watched a movie, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," at the mall during that time, but authorities said that movie was not playing at the mall or anywhere nearby that day.

When confronted, Rodriguez "did not have an explanation" for the fact that the movie he named wasn't showing, according to the officer who applied for the search warrant.

The search warrant showed Rodriguez cooperated with an initial search of his car Nov. 26, but refused a second search and asked for a lawyer. Police raided his house nine hours later.

Among the items seized were receipts from stores near the Columbia Mall time-stamped Nov. 22, swabs of "apparent blood" from the garage floor and three latex gloves from his car trunk, the papers unsealed Thursday show.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 4:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They're going to try the creep. They still haven't found Dru's body as far as I know.

rd

from www.nytimes.com (fair use)

Judge: N.D. Kidnap Suspect to Face Trial
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 5, 2004

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) -- A judge has found probable cause to put a Minnesota man on trial for kidnapping University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin.

Magistrate David Vigeland issued his ruling Friday, after hearing prosecutors present evidence in the case against Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. Friday's hearing was held in a small courtroom, packed with Sjodin's family and friends, as well as members of Rodriguez's family.

Sjodin, 22, of Pequot Lakes, Minn., disappeared Nov. 22 from a Grand Forks mall. Authorities have said she probably is dead.

Rodriguez, 51, of Crookston, Minn., was arrested in December. He has been jailed in Grand Forks on $5 million bail. His attorney has said he denied involvement in Sjodin's disappearance.

Rick Brown, an assistant Grand Forks County state's attorney, called law enforcement officers to the stand to testify about their investigation.

Authorities believe Rodriguez abducted Sjodin from the parking lot of a Grand Forks shopping mall on Nov. 22. She was last heard from in a cell phone conversation with her boyfriend, Chris Lang.

Alquist said Rodriguez told authorities he was at a movie on the afternoon Sjodin disappeared and identified the movie as ``Once Upon a Time in Mexico.''

``When told that wasn't playing, he was completely unable to supply any logical explanation of any other movie that he attended,'' Alquist said.

Earlier, Grand Forks Police Sgt. Jim Remer said Sjodin's roommate, Meg Murphy, alerted authorities that Sjodin was missing, and campus police put out a missing person report.

``This was a serious situation from the beginning,'' he said.

Police say a shoe found near the Red Lake River on the edge of Crookston matches the type Sjodin wore the day she disappeared.

Dusek questioned Remer about the shoe size, indicating it was a size larger than the size Sjodin wore. Answering a follow-up question from Brown, Remer said Sjodin's roommate told police they shared the shoes.

Dusek also asked Remer about police reports that Sjodin's cell phone conversation with Lang indicated no emergency. Remer said he could not remember details.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
MrRich



Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 52
Location: Tulsa, Ok

PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 2:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CROOKSTON, Minn. - The body of Dru Sjodin, the University of North Dakota student who disappeared last November, has been found, the sheriff said Saturday.



Sheriff Mark LeTexier sobbed as he told volunteers, "Dru is home." He later confirmed that authorities had found Sjodin's body.


Scores of volunteers had joined the search for the 22-year-old student on Saturday. The Pequot Lakes, Minn., native was last seen in November at a shopping mall in Grand Forks where she worked at a Victoria's Secret.


A handful of Sjodin's relatives continued searching through the winter, but official searches had been halted in December because of severe weather. Authorities resumed searching earlier this month.


Sjodin's parents spoke to a search party of more than 100 on Saturday morning.


"Your legs are our legs today, and our voices for Dru," said her mother, Linda Walker.


Convicted sex offender Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 51, of Crookston, has been charged with kidnapping Sjodin and pleaded not guilty.
_________________
All things being equal, the simplest answer is usually best.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Jayne



Joined: 15 Sep 2002
Posts: 368
Location: Columbus, Ohio

PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

continued...

Scores of volunteers had joined the search on Saturday for the 22-year-old University of North Dakota student, who was last seen Nov. 22 the mall where she worked at a Victoria's Secret.

While a handful of Sjodin's relatives continued searching through the winter, official searches had been halted in December because of severe weather and resumed this month.

Bob Heales, a private investigator who has coordinated search efforts for the Sjodin family, said volunteers had been near the spot where the body was recovered ''probably a dozen times,'' but the area was covered with snow.

He said Sjodin's friends and family felt relieved Saturday that Sjodin had been found.

''Dru's coming home and that's what we've wanted from the beginning,'' he said. ''We never wanted to go through life without knowing where she was.''

Convicted sex offender Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 51, of Crookston, has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping Sjodin, of Pequot Lakes, Minn. He was arrested in December and is jailed in Grand Forks on $5 million bail.

At a court hearing last month, investigators testified that blood matching Sjodin's DNA was found in Rodriguez's car. Police said they also found knife in the car that matches a sheath discovered near Sjodin's car.

Before Saturday's search, Sjodin's parents spoke to a search party of more than 100 people.

''Your legs are our legs today, and our voices for Dru,'' said her mother, Linda Walker.

Hours later, before the sheriff's announcement, Sjodin's boyfriend, Chris Lang, arrived in tears at the school where volunteers had gathered for the search. He and Sjodin's father, Allan, joined authorities in a trailer serving as a makeshift command post.

Lang was the last person known to have heard from Sjodin, when she spoke to him by cell phone after leaving her job the afternoon of Nov. 22.


© 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Joyce Chiang was found in April. Geragos said he told Condit that Chandra would be found in May. I guess he knew something the rest of us don't.

Sad about a spring thaw turning up a body from evil done during winter bitterness. Now there is spring bitterness, when there should be happiness.

It's not enough that Dru should have to give her life because we won't go to the trouble of monitoring sexual predators. We must take away the right of convicted sexual predators to roam unmonitored looking for another girl to attack rather than another Dru having her life taken away. Then Dru could truly rest in peace.

rd
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
blondie



Joined: 10 Oct 2003
Posts: 567

PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2004 9:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well said rd. Why don't you write a book about sexual predators siting examples such as Dru.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
benn



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 2136
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 12:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess the place to go on that, blondie and rd, trying to get sexual predators monitored, is to our State legislatures. I often hesitate to write to my state legislators because I feel like they say, Who is He, He does not send me any campaign money.

Somewhere they are protesting a predator being released. I will check to see if that is California.

I think I will give that a try, sending emails to my state legislators. I only have one Assemblyman and one State Senator. I will do it, after I get a letter written up. If someone writes up a good sample letter I will use that.

It is no good having a good idea, or gripeing about something, if we don't tell anyone about it.

I will try to write to the governor also, but I understand that he does not see his email, it gets thrown away or something, his mail has to be postal mail to reach him.

All right then, both of you are going to write to your state legislators about your ideas, and I will right mine. hahaha But I will, I just want to compose a good letter if I can, and ask me about the letter if I forget to mention it here.

benn
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
benn



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 2136
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 2:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey, we are fast in California. If it is going to be it is bound to be in the Modesto Bee, or the Sacramento Bee, or some other Bee.

>>>MercedSun-Star.com
Crime: Sex predators targeted

By Daryl Farnsworth, and Eddie Brown
THE MODESTO BEE

A law maker and area law enforcement officers gathered Thursday afternoon on the Stanislaus County Courthouse steps to push an initiative that would allow people to use the Internet to track sex predators.

State Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, was in Modesto to push the initiative known as the "Sexual Predator Punishment and Megan's Law Expansion Act." It still needs more than 300,000 signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

California is one of four states that does not allow personal information about convicted pedophiles to be placed online.

No one is more vulnerable than kids, and no one is more predatory than a sex offender, Stanislaus County District Attorney James Brazelton said.

Despite not being allowed under existing law, Merced County District Attorney Gordon Spencer said he already has information about convicted high-risk sex predators on his county's Web site.

"It (the new law) will give me clear authorization to do what I think I should be able to do already," Spencer said.

When he first put the information about high-risk sex offenders online, the attorney general's office warned that Merced County might get sued.

Spencer said his response was: I'm also a lawyer, and the reading of the law says we can do this and we did it.

Stanislaus County Sheriff Les Weidman, chairman of the California State Sheriffs Association, said, "The possibility of a lawsuit is real any time there's a new initiative. It's about protecting our kids, and that's what it's really about.

Tuolumne County Sheriff Dick Rodgers also championed the initiative

"We have sex offenders who are registered in our county who will offend in other counties," he said. "This law would be a tremendous boost to our area and our state."

Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin also supported the measure.

If the initiative gets on the ballot and passes, information available on the Internet would include sex offenders' photos, home addresses, vehicle information and history of prior sex offenses and convictions.

The initiative also includes a number of provisions relating to sentencing, treatment and parole:

• 25-years-to-life terms in cases involving child molestation and habitual offenders.

• Required treatment for high-risk sex offenders, after completion of their prison sentences, if prosecutors ask and courts approve.

• Parole extension to 10 years for the most heinous sex offenders.

Another provision would establish a criminal penalty for people who lure or attempt to lure children online, and another would make it a felony to possess child pornography when the defendant has a prior sex offense conviction.

Other provisions would require convicted offenders to:

• Wear global positioning satellite, or GPS devices; authorities would track offenders during their parole.

• Renew their driver's licenses annually, for improved tracking.

Information about petitions can be obtained online, www.projectkidsafe.org. Bee staff writer Daryl Farnsworth can be reached at 578-2331 or dfarnsworth@modbee.com.


Posted
http://www.mercedsun-star.com/local/
story/8380958p-9215463c.html

benn
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
peripeteia



Joined: 22 Sep 2002
Posts: 1173
Location: Nova Scotia

PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 9:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Blondie your point is well taken that the problem of sexual preditors needs to be brought out in the forefront of public awareness, albeit a book, or whatever means. Your idea as well Ben is excellent.

Benn I commend you on your research skills and organization, thanks for the information. I will voice my views on the petition which you have so graciously provided the url to.

Immediately the world must take a different view, we must educate ourselves and our children as to what is going on around us and how to protect ourselves and those in our charge from harms way from sexual deviants. The internet must be policed in some fashion, perhaps, what is needed is a police service that responds to and investigates complaints received on line. Police can easily do this, as it is possible to check the isp that the complaint came from, and perhaps it will be necessary to give a point of contact by phone or have an interview with the police... Sex needs to get off the TV.

Some system can be easily developed, a ralph nader of the internet if you will....Certainly, not much is lost in letter writing, and perhaps things might get more properly investigated if there was a paper trail to the police.

Imagine for instance if we had of been taken seriously in the investigation of Chandra, certainly she would have been found in a timely enough fashion that better physical evidence could have been gather which may have then yeilded enough information to determined how and where Chandra died.

I believe that the internet could blow wide open alot of things. There are a multitude of ways like those described in the posts above that could better identify those who were are at risk to harm others. These options must be examined. There is money that must be given to research into treatments, options and solution to the problems of sexual deviance and deviants, sexual predators, and insights into their behavior to identify modes of behavior in order for treatment and predictability of behavior.
This is a determinate of safety and welfare of children and women and there are a number of men who suffer sexual violence as well.

The public needs to get into the program. It is essential that early identification and treatment to these problems must be found and implimented. Sex needs to get off the TV.

Something has got to give, it is everywhere, abuse in one form or another
be it at war in another nation, neighbours against neighbours, our children, our friends, our neighbours, in the community down the road, over yonder, everywhere!

.
_________________
A vision sent me on the path of seeking justice for Chandra, nothing I've seen in print to date has diminished the vividness but only served to reaffirm the validity of this vision.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
benn



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 2136
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 11:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good words, kate. All we have to do is to start putting some of our words into action, which I think we have been doing.

There are so many ways to do this. One of the best ways I guess is to become part of some group, if there is a group for a problem that we are trying to find solutions for. For justice in the Chandra Levy case there does not seem to be any organized group, though we are doing part of the work at Justice for Chandra.

I am going to try to do something to help get the 300,000 signatures needed to get the anti predator bill on the ballot in California. I don't know what I can do, but I will contact the address that is given.

But that is only for California, I am certain that there are other states that need help. You never say anything about Canada much, kate, maybe you can tell us about some of the problems there.

The idea of some kind of an anti-predator group encourages me since repeat predators seem to be the cause of much crime, and those gps locators will help solve the problem.

rd I think is the one here who has brought the predator problem most to the attention of this board. I am going to stop now. I think we need more people helping on the predator problems.

Well, I will look at one more problem, kate wrote. "Sex needs to get off the TV." That is very very true, and there are so many other junk subjects on tv. For me the best way to fight crime coruption and everything else is to start bringing the bible into the market place. I know I know a lot of people don't like the bible, and maybe that is the idea, Satan does not like the bible. If I start to talk about the bible people might say, "oh that stupid fool," but that is the way it is. We can choose whom we are going to serve, we can serve good, or we can serve something else that does not resemble anything good.

benn
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
rd



Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Posts: 9273
Location: Jacksonville, FL

PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 3:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

blondie wrote:
Well said rd. Why don't you write a book about sexual predators siting examples such as Dru.



thanks, blondie. The last two chapters of Murder on a Horse Trail seque to sexual predators citing some cases such as Dru's and what we should do about them. We'll see if it generates some dialogue that inspires someone to follow up on it with another book on sexual predators in addition to suggestions like benn's.

benn, I would imagine most people value their Bible, Koran, or Torah highly but we would actually be a theocracy like Iran if Bible parables were mandated on tv instead of tv shows and movies. There are Christian channels for people to watch if that is their wish, but to suggest that everyone must watch it is essentially establishing a church run country as they have in Iran.

I don't pretend to think that people will quit becoming predators based on what's on tv, or that somehow everyone can be indoctrinated in certain teachings and the world is going to become hunky dory. Basically I am saying that certain people act like predators and they have to be monitored to protect the public from them.

rd
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
benn



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 2136
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2004 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rd, I think you misunderstood what I intended to say, or maybe I did not write it clear enough. No, everyone watches what they want to, but there is a lot of resistance to taking the bible out in the open.

I tried that website that is working on the predator inititive, and their website is not working right. Using the url as it was printed on their message I got a message that there was no web for the url.

I rewrote the url with my email program, and the window came up, but it is still not working right. I wanted to download a petition. I guess they will get it to working.

benn
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    www.justiceforchandra.com Forum Index -> Jennifer Kesse and similar disappearances All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Page 2 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group