About 1,300 searchers combed the ground, some of it snow-covered, for rubbish, clothes and other items in hopes of handing Grand Forks police a clue into what happened to 22-year-old Dru Sjodin (search).

Police believe Sjodin may have been abducted Saturday. They said Tuesday that they were working on the assumption she was still alive.

"We have nothing to indicate otherwise," Sgt. Michael Hedlund said.

Police said searchers turned up a number of discarded items, ranging from clothing to paper towels, in ditches and fields southeast of Grand Forks (search), near Fisher, Minn., where a call had been traced to Sjodin's cell phone Saturday night. Grand Forks and Fisher are about a dozen miles apart.

The response to the search for the missing woman was so overwhelming police asked some to stay home late in the day.

Police said "items of interest" were found but did not elaborate. Hedlund said they did not appear to be significant to the case.

"There are things that we are looking into, but to the best of my knowledge, it was nothing they could pinpoint to being in Dru's possession," Hedlund said.

The searchers were bused to the Fisher area, where the wind made the temperature feel like 10 below zero and the ground was covered with snow.

Hannah Schlag, a University of North Dakota student from Velva, was in a group of 12 walking through one five-mile section covered with snow.

"My ankles are getting a little numb, going through the deep stuff," she said. "But I feel this is what I should be doing right now. Biology doesn't seem that important."

A small group of volunteers held hands in a circle and prayed. One called out, "Let's go find Dru," as the group broke up to join the search.

"I was up all night, because I've just been itching to get out and do this," said Jerrod Arneson, one of the searchers. "You never think something like this would happen here, and when it does, you want to do something."

Michelle Vogt said she lived on the same dormitory floor as Sjodin when the two were freshmen.

"She is an awesome person, very fun and outgoing," Vogt said. "I don't know why you wouldn't want to come out and help. I think it's great the way everyone is coming together."

Tim Gerlach, a graduate student, said the search was a priority.

Sjodin's father, Allan, and Hedlund appeared on television morning programs to show Dru Sjodin's picture and ask for help.

"We need a lot of prayer and a lot of hope. We have had a tremendous outpouring of help here. We just want her back," Allan Sjodin said.

The search was to resume Wednesday, but only with law enforcement personnel, Hedlund said. Authorities also are awaiting results from the state crime lab, which is analyzing Sjodin's car.

Sjodin, a graphic arts major from Pequot Lakes, Minn., was last seen late Saturday afternoon, as she was leaving the Columbia Mall store in Grand Forks where she worked. Her mother, Linda Walker, said her daughter was talking to her boyfriend in Minneapolis on her cell phone about 5 p.m. Saturday when he heard her say, "Oh, my God," before the phone went dead.

The boyfriend, whom authorities would not identify, called Sjodin's roommate to ask about her after a second call about three hours later that lasted only about a minute, with no conversation. The roommate called police after Sjodin, who had a reputation for reliability, did not show up for her 9 p.m. shift as a waitress in a Grand Forks bar.

Lt. Dennis Eggebraaten said he did not know why Sjodin's boyfriend did not call police.

"I'm not going to guess what was going on in his mind at the time," Eggebraaten said.

Police traced the second call from Sjodin's cell phone to the area near Fisher. Police said the cell phone signal put it within about five miles of the tower near Fisher from about 8 p.m. Saturday until the signal faded out 24 hours later.

Police said Sjodin's red car was found in a Columbia Mall parking lot with a package inside that she apparently had bought at the mall. They found no sign of a struggle.

Sjodin's family is offering a $20,000 reward. David Sutfin, Sjodin's uncle, told the Grand Forks Herald that an unnamed "private benefactor" had added $20,000.

Sjodin is described as about 5-foot-5, weighing 130 pounds, with frosted blond hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing black slacks, black loafers, a pink and purple V-neck blouse, a black blazer-style jacket and a small black handbag.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

By Tu-Uyen Tran
Herald Staff Writer

"I just want to thank everybody for standing together with us through this tough time." Allan Sjodin, Dru's father

On a day when most families enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner, Dru Sjodin's family held a press conference in Grand Forks police headquarters.

About a dozen members of the missing 22-year-old's family were present to show their support, while two cousins and her father, Allan, made statements.

"Dru, we know you're out there," said cousin Charity Pankonin, her voice filled with emotion.
" Our hearts are breaking. We just want you to know we love you so, so much."

Another cousin, Jason Nelson, urged the public to call police with any tips.

Sounding a note of thanks, Allan Sjodin said, "I just want to thank everybody for standing together with us through this tough time." He thanked the press, police and the community for their support.

Throughout the day, law enforcement officials continued searching for additional clues to what happened to Dru Sjodin.

The UND senior disappeared around 5 p.m. Saturday night from the Columbia Mall parking lot. Police suspect she was abducted and are operating under the assumption that she is still alive.

Sjodin's family did not take questions from the press after their statement.

Capt. Mike Kirby, a police spokesman, said 20 to 30 officials from the local level on up to the Federal Bureau of Investigation are involved in the case. So far, they've collected 580 leads, he said, but more are still needed.

Police have interviewed many persons of interest, he said, but, as far as he knows, no warrants have been issued for any suspect.

Again, police called attention to Sjodin's car, which was found at the mall. It is a red, two-door 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass. The car is unique in that there is a panel in the front on the driver's side that is unpainted with primer still on it.

If anyone saw the car at any time Saturday or if they remember anything about it, Kirby said they should call police. No detail, he said, is insignificant. He also encouraged landowners in the Fisher, Minn., area to search their property.

Some "items of interest" have been collected during an earlier search, Kirby confirmed. He said they are still being analyzed, but police may be able to say more about them today.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tran reports on City Hall. Reach him at (701) 780-1248 or ttran@gfherald.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE : The full article including a photo will be available on the Web for a limited time, link below:
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforksherald/7366238.htm

Also asking for volunteer search and rescue help. Please click on the following link:

http://www.finddru.com

7:20 p.m. on 01 December 2003, law enforcement officers arrested Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., age 50, of Crookston Minnesota on a warrant issued by the Grand Forks States Attorney’s Office and signed in Grand Forks District Court for the charge of Kidnapping a Class A Felony in North Dakota.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. is being held at the Tri-County Correctional Center in Crookston Minnesota.

Out of respect for the Sjodin family and in the interest of the integrity of the investigation,
no further information will be released at this time. All agencies involved are working to find Dru and continuing the investigation.

Anyone with information that may assist in locating Dru Sjodin or who may have information regarding this abduction should call the Grand Forks Police Department Tip Line at 701-780-8213.

A press briefing will be held in the lobby of the Grand Forks Police Department at 11:00 am CST on Tuesday, 2 December 2003.
No additional information will be released until this press briefing.

Release issued: 8:15 p.m. Monday, December 1, 2003
Release prepared by: Captain Michael Kirby

Please click on the link which also includes press releases:
http://grandforksgov.com/Vehicle%20Info.htm

Some even took precautions out of fear like installing motion activated lights at their homes.

As far as monitoring, I don't know just how close LE can monitor someone like this. They simply don't have the resources to follow every predator to ensure that they don't reoffend.

I honestly don't have a solution other than either arming ourselves, or taking self defense training.... even that doesn't work all of the time.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. Photo-Details

Predatory Level 3 Offender Information
Click menu on left: Community notification process
Akso includes the story within of missing Jacob Wetterling, St. Joseph, MN years ago and the onset of the predatory laws of the state of Minnesota.

http://www.doc.state.mn.us/level3/OffenderDetail.asp?OID=108212

Press Release :
http://www.grandforksgov.com/gfgov/home.nsf/Pages/5828C49F0DE1E9FB86256D840046537F?OpenDocument

*Note: Although the press conference of 11 a.m. of 12/2 did not reveal new information, TV news chanels reciting surveylance tapes at the mall where Dru disappeared have revealed helpful information, i.e.the arrest of suspect.

I'm very afraid for the outcome of this, but am hoping for a miracle.

This guy must not be cooperating, or else they would have her, one way or another.

Rodriguez was released from a Minnesota prison in May after serving 23 years for an attempted abduction in Crookston in 1979. Wayne Swanson, who prosecuted Rodriguez in that case as the Polk County attorney, said Rodriguez tried to abduct a woman off the street, and stabbed her when she fought back. The woman got away, and Rodriguez was later arrested, he said.

Complete article:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20031203_580.html

That's alarming as well- he stabbed that other woman when she fought back....

Dru, we are praying for you.....

Dec. 3 — When Shirley Iverson heard about the abduction of Dru Sjodin, she immediately thought of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., the man who had raped her 30 years earlier.

"It occurred to me, and within a day of hearing about it on television … and looking on the Internet, I called the numbers that were listed to tell them to make sure to check what Alfonso Rodriguez had been doing that evening," Iverson said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America.

Rodriguez, 50, of Crookston, Minn., is due to appear today in the Polk County courthouse for an extradition hearing. His recent arrest in the disappearance of 22-year-old Sjodin has renewed the fears of Crookston residents who still remember when the three-time sexual predator first changed their sleepy little town forever.

Rodriguez's first known attack took place on the night of Oct. 19, 1974, when Rodriguez was just 21 years old.

Rodriguez spotted the then-18-year-old Iverson leaving a Crookston bar before he forced her to drive to remote location. He then sexually assaulted her.

Exactly a month after the Iverson assault, Rodriguez struck again. He attacked a woman he spotted leaving a local movie theater. He forced her to have intercourse with him at knifepoint.

Rodriguez's crimes were shocking to residents of Crookston, a town of only a few thousand people. They had considered Crookston as virtually crime-free until Rodriguez came along.

When Rodriquez was arrested and sentenced in April 1975 to 15 years in a security hospital, Crookston residents thought everything would return to normal. It did, until Rodriquez was released a few years later, in 1979.

It took just seven months for Rodriguez to strike again. He threatened to kill a woman walking down Elm Street when she refused to enter his car. When she continued to resist he pulled a knife and stabbed her through the left arm and abdomen.

The young woman didn't forget her attacker's face. In fact, she sketched it for police. Rodriguez was convicted again and served 23 years in prison.

When he was released in May, Crookston residents began to worry that a new generation of local women would be at risk.

Iverson, who has since moved to Portland, Ore., said she began to worry about the safety of the women in and around Crookston immediately after she got the call from police, letting her know that Rodriguez was a free man again.

"It was very upsetting. Because when he was released in May, even with the best of safety planning and consideration, I guess it was really about not if, but when — when he would re-offend," Iverson said.

Sjodin, a student at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, has been missing since Nov. 22. Sjodin, who is from Pequot Lakes, Minn., was last seen in the parking lot of a Grand Forks mall, where she worked at a Victoria's Secret store.

Police have said they have probable cause to believe Rodriguez, who now faces a kidnapping charge in the Sjodin disappearance, was in the mall parking lot that evening.

Anyone with information about Sjodin's whereabouts has been asked to call the Grand Forks Police Department tip line at (701) 780-8213. The reward for information leading to hers safe return is $140,000. Her family and friends have set up a Web site, http://finddru.com.

God, I hope I'm wrong.

Also Erika's Mother contacts Sjordin family:
http://wcco.com/drusjodin/local_story_337145421.html

Terrible case. I hope for the family they get it resolved.....but as far as I can see, totally unrelated to Dru.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dec 4, 5:01 PM EST

By DAVE KOLPACK
Associated Press Writer

Kolpack reports investigators are being tight-lipped about possible evidence against Rodriguez. (Audio)

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) -- A convicted rapist charged with kidnapping a North Dakota college student who has yet to be found said through his lawyer Thursday that he wants to remain in custody for his own safety. The judge set bail at $5 million.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, appeared at his bond hearing with a brown parka over orange jail clothes. He spoke briefly in response to the judge's questions and only to acknowledge that he understood the charges against him. He was not asked to enter a plea.

Rick Brown, an assistant state's attorney for Grand Forks County, said he asked for the $5 million bond because Rodriguez doesn't have deep ties to the community and authorities believed there is a strong likelihood he would commit more crimes.

"We feel that this case represents a very classic case of danger," he said.
Please continue article at the following link:
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISSING_STUDENT?SITE=NVREN&SECTION=HOME

On the Net: http://www.finddru.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dec 4, 2003 2:29 pm US/Central
Grand Forks, ND (AP) A convicted rapist charged with kidnapping a North Dakota college student who has yet to be found said through his lawyer Thursday that he wants to remain in custody for his own safety. The judge set bail at $5 million.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, appeared at his bond hearing with a brown parka over orange jail clothes. He spoke briefly in response to the judge's questions and only to acknowledge that he understood the charges against him. He was not asked to enter a plea.

Continued at link, including photos, video and slide show:
http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_338153128.html

Prosecutors Drop Objection To Opening Sjodin Files

Dec 5, 2003 4:31 pm US/Central
Grand Forks, ND (AP) Prosecutors said Friday they were dropping their objection to unsealing their evidence against a man accused in the disappearance of a University of North Dakota student, saying they wanted to clear up "misinformation."

It wasn't immediately clear when court files would be available in the state's case against Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, who has been charged with kidnapping Dru Sjodin, 22, last month from a mall parking lot.

Rodriguez's public defender, David Dusek, has 10 days to respond to a motion to unseal the papers. In an interview with The Associated Press, Dusek didn't say what he would advise his client.

"The most important thing is to preserve Mr. Rodriguez's constitutional rights," Dusek said, on his way to meet with Rodriguez. He said they were to talk about the case for the first time, though it was their third meeting. Dusek still hasn't seen police reports, he said.

For complete article continue this at the following link:
http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_339173953.html

2/18/1953 - Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. is born in Laredo, Texas.

1963 - Rodriguez arrives in Minnesota from Laredo.

10/18/1974 - Rodriguez requests a ride from a former high school classmate in Crookston, Minnesota. When the car stops, he restrains her and asks for sex. She refuses, but eventually allows him sexual contact. She drives home, and he lets her go. Rodriguez is arrested, chargged with attempted aggravated rape and released on $1,500 bail.

11/19/1974 - Rodriguez uses a knife to force a woman to drive her car to a rural area, rapes her inside the car, and releases her.

12/31/1974 - Rodriguez pleads guilty to both offenses, receives probation, a stayed prison sentence of 0-15 years, and is committed to the sexual offender treatment program at St. Peter State Security Hospital.

1975-1978 - Rodriguez undergoes sexual offender treatment at St. Peter.

1978 - Rodriguez continues inpatient treatment in Mankato.

1979 - Inpatient treatment ends, probation continues, Rodriguez remains in Mankato.

8/14/1979 - A Mankato woman is abducted at knifepoint from a mall, forced to drive to rural Blue Earth County, raped, then released.

8/15-30/1979 - Rodriguez checks himself back into St. Peter, saying he is afraid he will be accused of the Mankato rape.

End of 1979 - Rodriguez is charged with the Mankato rape. His first trial ends with a hung jury, but he is acquitted at the second trial. He returns to St. Peter.

4/9/1980 - Rodriguez leaves St. Peter, returns to Crookston on furlough.

4/13/1980 - A man approaches a woman on a street in Crookston and asks for directions. He then grabs her and attempts to force her into his car. She struggles with him, and he stabs her. Police arrest Rodriguez after the victim draws her own sketch of the attacker. Rodriguez claims it's a case of mistaken identity.

6/24/1980 - Rodriguez is convicted of attempted kidnapping and aggravated assault and sentenced to 20 years in prison for the April crime. Additonally, his probation is revoked, and he is sentenced to serve time for the 1974 charge.

1980-1985 - Rodriguez attends AA meetings in prison, then drops out because he says he's stopped using alcohol and drugs.

2/8/2001 - Corrections department conducts a pre-release assessment on which he scores a 12 - well above the threshold for Level 3 status - the state's designation for the highest-risk offenders. The department of corrections does not recommend civil commitment, which would have kept Rodriguez in custody indefinitely.

5/1/2003 - Rodriguez released without supervision, returns to Crookston.

11/22/2003 - Dru Sjodin is abducted from Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, a 30 minute drive from Crookston.

12/1/2003 - Rodriguez is arrested and charged with kidnapping Sjodin.

http://wcco.com/drusjodin/local_story_339164329.html/resources_storyPrintableView

Indeed, people have agonized over that since 22-year-old Dru Sjodin disappeared on Nov. 22, her life interrupted during a telephone conversation with her boyfriend in the Twin Cities.

But increasingly they also have asked: Why her? as in, Why has this abduction, of all the abductions that occur, drawn such overwhelming attention from the media, law enforcement and the public?

People and Newsweek magazines had reporters in Grand Forks. ABC's "Good Morning America" sent a second news crew after the arrest of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., accused of kidnapping Sjodin. Grand Forks police Sgt. Mike Hedlund became a network news show regular, appearing with Sjodin family members to assure the nation that the search would be relentless.

Dru SjodinNot since the flood of 1997, the other calamity that will define Grand Forks in the national mind for years, have so many satellite TV trucks been parked in the city.

Rodriguez, a convicted sex offender and state-branded predator, denies having anything to do with Sjodin. "I did not kidnap her," he told his court-appointed attorney Friday night, according to public defender David Dusek, who recounted the conversation minutes later -- on MSNBC.

Part of the answer to why interest has been so keen in this "nightmarish crime," as a prosecutor called it during Rodriguez's first court appearance Thursday, certainly lies in the dramatic and chilling circumstances of Sjodin's abduction: spirited from a public place in daylight, her last words a startled "Oh, my God!" before the phone conversation with her boyfriend ended so abruptly.

Allan Sjodin addresses media.Ben GarvinStar TribunePart of the answer may be a family, relentless in its faith that she lives and needs to be found -- heartbroken parents and an unrelentingly protective big brother who mounted a clinic on how to sustain public interest.

"I should have been in Minnesota, taking care of her," big brother Sven said at one news briefing, looking strong and helpless at the same time. And strangers responded, "I should be in Minnesota, helping to look for her."

And part of the answer may be in Dru Sjodin's smile: Beauty to the Beast some people see in Rodriguez, released from captivity in May after serving 23 years for vicious attacks on women.

"She is good-looking, a nice smile, and I don't think there's any doubt that's part of the general interest," said Ted Elbert, a field producer for NBC News, who attended Rodriguez's court appearance.

For another grieving father, that raises another question.

"My immediate reaction to all the attention this case has received was, 'Why her? Why not my son?' " Bill Turcotte asks.

Russell Turcotte, 19, disappeared on July 13, 2002, after talking with his mother from a telephone at a Grand Forks truck stop. There were no mass searches, no daily police news briefings, no statements of outrage by governors, no appearances on "Today" or "Good Morning America."

Russell's remains were found more than three months later among trees off U.S. Hwy. 2 by Devils Lake, N.D., a little more than an hour's drive west of Grand Forks. He was murdered, his father said. No one has been charged in his death.

"My son was also young," Bill Turcotte said. "He was male, and he also was damn attractive."

He also was American Indian. Is that part of the answer? Police say no. Some reporters covering this story, including Elbert, wonder. So does Bill Turcotte.

A tough pill

Elbert said NBC's Tom Brokaw, a native of South Dakota, made the decision on Monday, before Rodriguez's arrest at his home in Crookston, Minn., to dispatch a crew to the Red River Valley.

"He said we would see the solidarity of these communities here in the Dakotas, something that was proven in the flood," Elbert said. But driving the story, too, he said, was the face that smiled from fliers all over the valley and from newspapers and television screens all over the country.

Stephen Lee, a reporter for the Grand Forks Herald, agreed.

"She's very attractive," he said. "And she's the daughter everybody would like to have. Nobody has had anything but good things to say about her, and the family is so remarkable."

Lee also covered Russell Turcotte's disappearance last year.

"Russell was sort of a vagabond, on the road a lot," he said. "How do you know he hasn't just gone down the road? And he had no local ties.

"I sympathize with his family. It's hard not to agree with his family that being American Indian didn't help, that there wasn't that personal connection with the public," which made it easier for his story to fade quickly.

Bill Turcotte, who lives in Chinook, Mont., said he doesn't resent the Sjodin family for sustaining concern for their daughter: "At first, it was, 'Why her?' But almost instantaneously, it was, 'This is exactly what should happen for all missing people.'

"I'm grateful this family is getting all this attention. But it's a real tough pill to swallow that this didn't happen for my son."

Grand Forks police say that they sympathize with Turcotte, but that the circumstances in the two cases were different. Russell was passing through the area, bound for who knows where, and authorities had nothing like Sjodin's startled cry or the fading signal of her cell phone, tracked to an area of farm fields, woods and wetlands a dozen miles east of Grand Forks.

Whatever the reason, and despite the failure so far to locate her, the task force that Police Chief John Packett assembled to search for Sjodin and her abductor has been "a model effort," the chief said at a news briefing last week.

That includes an acknowledgment by the police and the family that the swarm of media, meddlesome and irritating at times, could help in the search for Sjodin.

"We need you," Capt. Mike Kirby said.

"Maybe they learned from us," Bill Turcotte said.

One comfort

Jill Butler, 25, who has closely followed each day's developments in the Sjodin case from more than 300 miles away in Minneapolis, said it wasn't just her blue eyes, frosted blond hair and sweet smile that captivated people.

"She is a young, vibrant, attractive female," Butler wrote in an e-mail to the Star Tribune, but she also was "working two jobs while attending college." She has a strong family behind her and a supportive community around her.

"I personally have become so interested and saddened because I am relatively close in age to her, and I cannot fathom what she has endured," she said. "It scares me. I am terrified for her, her family and friends.

"The only thing that is somewhat comforting is the fact that thousands share my emotions and are able to assist in the search. I am unable to help look for the girl. I want to do something, anything."

Butler will make a donation to the Red Cross or another agency helping with the searches, she said, and she may send a message to Sjodin's family through their Web site, http://www.finddru.com.

The Web site was created shortly after she disappeared. There, she reappears in a dozen photographs and in testimonials from friends and relatives. Within a few days, the site had recorded more than 5 million hits.

"We want America to know everything we know," Sven Sjodin said.

North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven met with Sven and Allan Sjodin, Dru's father. "This is a very tough situation, and everybody in the state is focused on it," he said in an interview last week.

Why?

"This is a wonderful young woman," he said. "This is a great family. We all think so much of Dru."

It could happen to anybody.

No safe spots

Stephen Watson, a sales coordinator for a window company in Ashland, Wis., said he considered hauling his ATV to North Dakota to help with the search last week.

"I have been unable to get it out of my mind," he wrote in an e-mail.

"I think the reason it has struck so many people is the way that it happened. In a mall parking lot? No one sees her being abducted? Did she scream for help? No one heard? The second phone call, and no one there?

"I can't imagine the fear that this poor girl went through or is going through. All I can keep thinking about is it could be my daughter, who is 22 years old as well and a nursing student. It strikes close to home.

"It makes a person want to sit down and cry. It is a huge reminder that there are many sick people in this world. No longer can we say, 'This is a small town; that kind of stuff doesn't happen here.' There are no safe spots in the world anymore."

Chuck Haga is at crhaga@startribune.com.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4252024.html

Rodriguez, 50, has been charged with kidnapping in the disappearance of Dru Sjodin, 22. The University of North Dakota student has been missing since Nov. 22 when police believe she was abducted from a mall parking lot in Grand Forks, N.D.

Rodriguez's sister, Ileana, called Sgt. Gerry Moreno several times following her brother's completion of a 23-year prison term for stabbing and trying to kidnap a woman. She asked Moreno to keep her brother locked up or away from the community.

Moreno said he wasn't in a position to help her.

``Once a person does their time, they have no ties to probation,'' said Moreno, a 26-year police veteran.

Ileana Rodriguez turned to Moreno because the two grew up together in Crookston. Moreno also went to the same elementary school as Alfonso Rodriguez, even playing with the young man he knew as ``Tito'' on occasion.

``I feel sorry for the family,'' Moreno said.

He described Alfonso Rodriguez as ``a happy-go-lucky kid.''

Investigators in the Sjodin case put their search on indefinite hold and were trying to piece together clues on her whereabouts. Grand Forks Police Capt. Mike Kirby said authorities had no plans to search for Sjodin unless something new developed.

Rodriguez has declined to speak with investigators.

Rodriguez, a convicted rapist who the state of Minnesota classified as the most dangerous type of sex offender, faces a preliminary hearing Feb. 4, and arraignment on Feb. 6.

Please continue at the line:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4253819.html

Dec 8, 2003 4:40 pm US/Central

WCCO-TV has confirmed that a knife was found in Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.'s car after the disappearance of a University of North Dakota student. The source told WCCO-TV that "significant evidence" was found on the knife.

Rodriguez, 50, is accused of abducting Dru Sjodin from a mall parking lot on November 22.

WCCO-TV has also learned that Rodriguez has been driving around with police, but has not offered any helpful information in the search for Sjodin.

A source close to the investigation also confirmed to the Associated Press that earlier media reports that blood matching Sjodin's type was found in the suspect's car and a knife sheath was discovered in the parking lot of the mall where she disappeared.

Please continue article at this link:
http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_342174449.html/resources_storyPrintableView

Why, would he let all the other's go, and not her?

Why did her boyfriend wait three hours after hearing her say "Oh my God" and the phone going dead. Did he try to call her back? Did he tell anyone right away?

I have 2 teenage daughters, and this type of thing is always a worry for me. But I have told them to NEVER NEVER NEVER go with the person willingly or quietly, thinking they'll escape later. I tell them that their BEST chance to escape is right then, right there at the beginning of it- I've told them to scream, run, fight, bite, scratch, whatever they have to do- that even if they are killed, they'd rather be killed right then than to allow that person to get them somewhere private and to do God-knows-what to them first.

I HATE this for the family. And I feel sorry for the boyfriend- he must be blaming himself. But when she said "Oh my God", who knows what type of tone of voice she had- maybe he just thought her cell-phone cut off and she was frustrated with it. Maybe he figured she'd just call him back later....reports said he didn't become alarmed until after the second call from her, where he heard no voice, just static and numbers being pressed. That's when he called her roommate. Poor guy- how could he have known?

I don't like the fact that this woman turned this guy in and he just happened to be the one? Very possible, but something seems strange about this case.

What you tell your daughters is ABSOLUTELY the best advice you can give them. Do whatever it takes to get away before he gets you in his car. Do not go with him, knife, gun or not. Kick, Scream, use your keys or whatever you might have to attack him.

Chances are he'll run the other way.

The saddest thing is that most women go quietly because they are being threatened with a weapon and they figure they'll look for a chance to escape later. They go quietly because they think they are "saving" their life at the time. But they don't realize their best chance to escape is right at the beginning, because once the events are in motion, the guy has the "upper hand".

This does not look good for Dru.

Sheriff Confirms Reports About Sjodin Evidence

Dec 9, 2003 12:28 pm US/Central

Grand Forks, N.D. (AP) 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.

Hill also said 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 November 22, calling her boyfriend on a cellphone from a Grand Forks mall parking lot.

click link to read entire article

http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_343134900.html

Also described in detail the off roads that residents took which crossed a bridge (Fisher)and mentioned that a couple of weeks ago the rivers weren't frozen over, the weather has changed it now is ice and snow. Recall Dru's last cell phone tower connections appeared to be somewhere near Fisher after the cell conversation with her boyfriend. ( paraphrasing all of above )

Thus, IMO this was the reason LE to hesitate search over the past weekend and regroup although the family and friends didn't stop their search and they were on ATV machines in an area known as Arvada. It is my understanding the Sjodin family had not been informed as to the evidence LE held.

* I do have a copy of the tipsters post however I am not authorized to insert it here.

The following report was sent to my e-mail this morning. I do not have the link:
...................................................................................................................

A DNA link is made in Sjodin case
Chuck Haga and Matt McKinney, Star Tribune

Published December 9, 2003 DRU09

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- A preliminary DNA analysis of blood found in Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.'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 used it to gain a warrant to arrest 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 ZerbyStar Tribune
A judge ordered the evidence sealed at the request of Grand Forks County State's Attorney Peter Welte. But Welte said on Friday -- after some details were confirmed by sources and published in the Star Tribune and elsewhere -- that he would not object to the file being opened if defense attorney David Dusek concurred. Dusek said Sunday that he would announce his decision today.

Rodriguez was released from prison in May after serving a 23-year sentence for attempted kidnapping and assault.

He said through his attorney on Friday that he was not responsible for Sjodin's disappearance. "I did not kidnap her," Dusek quoted Rodriguez as saying during their third jailhouse conversation.

Dusek, who was appointed to represent Rodriguez two hours before his first Grand Forks court appearance on Thursday, could not be reached Monday night for comment on the latest reports.

The knife found in Rodriguez's car belongs to a sheath that comes in a set, said one of the sources who spoke to the Star Tribune. The sheath was found 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 mall store before going to her car.

The sheath could only belong to a particular knife sold exclusively as a set in a home improvement store in Grand Forks, 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 (BCA), 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 multi-agency 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 "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 that he would not give up hope of finding his daughter alive. "I have one mission here," he told the Associated Press. "It's the same mission I've been telling everyone about since day one, and that's to find Dru."

Constantly watched
Rodriguez was under constant surveillance by FBI agents and others once he was identified as a suspect, one of the sources said. They wanted to make sure they had the right suspect before they arrested him, he said, but under close watch he was no longer a threat to the public.

Bail for Rodriguez was set at $5 million. He said at his first court appearance that he wanted to remain in jail because he feared for his safety.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 4 in Grand Forks District Court, followed by an arraignment two days later.

All three sources who spoke to the Star Tribune expressed frustration that the evidence had been sealed, sparking rumors and the leaking of bits 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. About 25 relatives and friends continued to search for her on Monday following a tip to the http://www.finddru.com Web site that Rodriguez enjoyed visiting Alvarado, Minn., about 20 miles north of East Grand Forks.

Volunteers fanned out on ATVs along a stretch of road north of the small community. They focused on abandoned buildings, said Rick Weyhrauch, of Crosslake, Minn., a friend of Sjodin's boyfriend.

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.

The writers are at crhaga@startribune.com and mmckinney@startribune.com.

Affidavit confirms DNA match in Sjodin case, dispels Rodriguez’s alibi
Mike Nowatzki
The Forum - 12/09/2003

A judge unsealed a seven-page arrest affidavit Tuesday that confirms media reports that blood found in Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.’s car matches a DNA sample taken from Dru Sjodin’s toothbrush.

PDF Affidavit: http://www.in-forum.com/articles/pdf/Affidavit.pdf

The court document also reveals the alibi Rodriguez gave police about his whereabouts the afternoon of Nov. 22, when Sjodin, a 22-year-old University of North Dakota student, disappeared from the Columbia Mall parking lot in Grand Forks.

Rodriguez told police he had been at the mall and went to the movie, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” at a nearby theater, the affidavit states. Rodriguez said the movie ended between 7 and 7:30 p.m.

Officers checked and found the movie wasn’t being shown at any theater near the mall that day, the affidavit states.

The affidavit also confirms reports that Polk County deputies seized a shoe under the U.S. Highway 75 bypass bridge over the Red Lake River on the west edge of Crookston, Minn. Sjodin’s college roommate, Meg Murphy, identified the black loafer “Nine West” brand shoe as the type of shoe Sjodin was wearing the day she disappeared.

The affidavit states Rodriguez consented to a search of his 2002 Mercury Sable on Nov. 26. Police observed but didn’t take a black folding knife in the trunk. Officers also found a black nylon sheath bearing the words “Tool Shop” in the Columbia Mall parking lot. The knife and sheath are sold as a set by Menards stores.

During a second search on Rodriguez’s car on Nov. 27, this time with a search warrant, agents and scientists from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension found what appeared to be blood on the inside of the right passenger-side rear window and on the rear seat of the vehicle. Two other areas in the passenger compartment also appeared to contain blood samples.

The blood samples were tested and matched against a DNA sample from Sjodin’s toothbrush at a forensic lab in Bemidji, Minn.

Sjodin was last seen talking on a cell phone as she left the Marshall Fields store at about 5 p.m. Nov. 22.

Her cell phone records show the call was to her boyfriend, Chris Lang of Crosslake, Minn., the affidavit states. Lang told authorities the call ended at 5:04 p.m. with Sjodin saying something to the effect of, “OK, OK.”

Sjodin’s cell phone made a second call at 7:42 p.m. that night, but Lang said he could hear only static and tones. The call lasted about 55 seconds, but the phone remained powered off a cell phone tower near the Fisher’s Landing rest stop on U.S. Highway 2 until approximately 8 p.m.

Rodriguez’s defense attorney, David Dusek, objected to the affidavit’s release, saying it would impede his client’s right to a fair trial and impartial jury.

District Court Judge Lawrence E. Jahnke disagreed, ruling, “there is no longer any compelling reason for the affidavit in question to remain sealed.” The judge also said if sources close to the investigation who have been disclosing information contained in the sealed court document are identified, “they should be dealt with appropriately.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528

© 2003 Forum Communications Co., Fargo, ND, 58102, All rights reserved

Hopes Fading As New Evidence Released

Governors of North Dakota and Minnesota to send National Guard troops.

Dec 9, 2003 2:18 pm US/Central
Grand Forks, N.D. (AP) Hopes of finding a missing college student alive faded Tuesday, as authorities confirmed that grim evidence has been found.

Dru Sjodin, a 22-year-old University of North Dakota student, has been missing since Nov. 22. Thousands of volunteers have searched for her since.

Video:
News conference from Tuesday, Dec. 9. - ND and MN Governors talk about sending National Guard to search.

http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_343153321.html

MMIII, Viacom Internet Services Inc. , All Rights Reserved

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - A planned three-day search for Dru Sjodin wrapped up a day early in North Dakota on Saturday without finding any trace of the missing University of North Dakota student. The search in Minnesota was expected to continue Sunday.

"The search was thorough and intense and it covered a lot of ground," said Maj. Mike Fonder of the Grand Forks Sheriff's Department. "Unfortunately, we came up empty."

Fonder didn't rule out future searches if authorities get tips, but there were no immediate plans for another wide-scale search. The Guard covered 690 square miles of North Dakota on Friday and Saturday.

Guard troops in Minnesota also wrapped up searching for the day at dark but planned one more day of looking Sunday.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, accused of kidnapping Sjodin from the parking lot of a Grand Forks shopping mall on Nov. 22, "may be the only key to her whereabouts," Fonder said. Rodriguez is not talking to police.

With the help of 90 North Dakota National Guard troops, up 12 from Friday's search, authorities were able to cover more ground than expected, Fonder said. Guard troops in Minnesota planned to search Polk County on Sunday, said Maj. Kevin Olson, a Guard spokesman.

A search of the Red River under the Thompson Bridge concluded about noon on Saturday, said Pete Fendt, spokesman for the Valley Water Rescue, a dive team from Fargo. The team searched a 50-foot section of the river, using underwater cameras through holes drilled in the foot-thick ice.

"We're using tape measures to mark a grid of the area we've searched, in case we need to do more searches," Fendt said.

Despite wind gusts up to 30 mph and wind chills in the single digits on Saturday, there were no problems with soldiers or equipment, said Rob Keller, spokesman for the North Dakota National Guard.

The cost of calling out the North Dakota Guard for a three-day search would cost between $40,000 and $50,000, Keller said. That would be covered by the state's emergency operations fund.

About 150 Guard members from Minnesota participated in the search on Saturday, the same number as Friday, Olson said. He said it was too early to determine the cost of their operation.

The North Dakota Guard tabbed the search "Operation Northern Vision." The Minnesota Guard called it "Operation Deliberate Search."

Investigators in the search were trying to retrace the steps of Rodriguez, which is why they looked under the Thompson Bridge, Fonder said. That's part of a route between Grand Forks and Crookston, Minn., where Rodriguez lived with his mother.

They ended the day frustrated

"We have covered so much ground and with the weather getting worse, I'm not sure if any more searches would be effective," Fonder said.

Guard troops used Humvees and other four-wheel drive and all-terrain vehicles to search snow-covered fields again on Saturday.

Rodriguez, a convicted rapist released from prison earlier this year, has said he is innocent, and remains jailed in Grand Forks on $5 million bond.

A search warrant unsealed earlier this week in Crookston, where Rodriguez was arrested, showed about a three-hour gap between the time Sjodin disappeared and the time Rodriguez appeared at his home.

Authorities said they do not believe Rodriguez's alibi. Rodriguez told police he went to a movie near the Columbia Mall about the time Sjodin disappeared from the mall's parking lot. Police said the movie Rodriguez named was not showing anywhere near the mall that day.

A risk assessment that was done on Rodriguez in January showed that he was more likely to re-offend than other sex offenders. That report, which outlined Rodriguez's escalating pattern of violence against women, was made available as part of the search warrant.

Rodriguez was released from prison in May after serving 23 years for an attempted abduction.

http://www.kstp.com/article/view/125198/

the waiting has to be just overwhelming.

I hope they find her soon.

And if this man took her, I hope he suffers greatly for the choices he made.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - National Guardsmen were sent home after what authorities called their final large-scale searches failed to turn up any sign of missing college student Dru Sjodin over the weekend.

About 150 soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard's 1st Battalion, 194th Armor, based in Brainerd, Minn., wrapped up their search Sunday morning in Crookston, Minn.

"We just went to a few places, got out and checked some culverts, some ditches - nothing," said David May of the Minnesota National Guard. "Very frustrating not to find something."

Troops with the North Dakota National Guard's 88th Air Defense Artillery were released Saturday, as were scores of law enforcement officers.

"Unless some new information surfaces that identifies an area we haven't covered, we're done at least for this winter," said Maj. Mike Fonder of the Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office.

click link to view entire article.
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/7496074.htm

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SEARCH EVIDENCE LISTED

http://www.fbpro.net/onafa/sjodin/searchevidence.htm

Volunteer Search Efforts
KEY.... AR=Alfonso Rodriguez ... SABLE = the vehicle AR used

Sunday December 28, 2003 Search has been postponed due to weather conditions. * Click on link for where the search was held, regarding search teams, the equipment that was in use, the animals that took part and the latest news articles.

http://www.finddru.com/Journal/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=685

ALSO : http://www.finddru.com/Journal/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=672

http://www.oracula.org/oracula/modules.php?op=modload&name=Anonimmus&file=shrine&shaemmusid=03121912320047

..........................
Map of Grand Forks, North Dakota and surrounding area approximately 12 mile radius, note the cell phone tower, ditches, rivers and the mall where DRU was last seen is included.

http://theguest_1.tripod.com/

LE experimented by tossing similar shoes over the bridge to find how/where they might land. It's doubtful that the same weather conditions existed as of the time DRU vanished, November 22, 2003. This is the area of the frozen river (in background) which was drilled-searched during the national guard SAR efforts.

I'm not certain of location or under which bridge that this photo was taken, but most likely it is near the Fisher cell towers, where the last signals from DRU's cell phone were heard before the battery drained out over the next 24 hours. I will try to find out location on the map in the post above where the bridge is located. * Would be to or from Crookston, Minnesota ? Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. lived with his Mother in Crookston, MN and she told LE he was home at 8:15 PM 11/22/ 03.

EDITED: Title to thread by LadyBug

MAP : of Grand Forks, North Dakota and Crookston, Minnesota.
VIDEO : of search by Blood Hounds December 27, 2003. The bloodhounds belong to Denny Adams, a world-renowned search dog trainer.
VIDEO : Take the drive Hwy 75 Bypass and photo where the shoe was found.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. said, "I did not kidnap her..." * ( that is the only statement from Rodriguez that has been reported )

CLICK tothis informative link to the home page, view menu top left
http://gf_crk.tripod.com/index.htm

Reports indicate the fingerprinting is being taken from prints from Alfonso's vehicle and Dru Sjodin Vehicle, but as we know much of the evidence is not made public by LE.

Rodriguez is being held on $5 million bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled March 5, 2004.

Feb 12, 2004
Investigators are collecting new evidence from the man accused in Dru Sjodin's kidnapping.

Eyewitness News has learned that investigators in Grand Forks went into Alfonzo Rodriguez's jail cell yesterday seeking more evidence.

A source says police got Rodriguez's fingerprints, palm prints and prints of the webbing between his fingers. They won't say what prompted the search. Grand Forks Police are not commenting. Rodriguez's attorney would not comment either.

http://kstp.com/article/view/127533/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good eveining, I'm Milo Smith. Thanks for tuning in tonight.

Grand Forks County investigators are gathering more information for their case against Alphonso Rodriguez, Jr. Rodriguez is the man accused of kidnapping missing UND student Dru Sjodin. WDAZ's Cassie Walder reports:

Sgt Jim Remer obtained a search warrant to come here, Grand Forks County Corrections, today, to take major case prints of Alphonso Rodriguez, Jr. In an affidavit submitted on February 6, Sgt. Remer states that the Minnesota Forensic Science Lab has secured partial ridge fingerprints from the 2002 Mercury Sable driven by Alphonso Rodriguez, Jr.

The forensic lab has also secured unidentified ridge fingerprints from the 1993 Oldsmobile driven by Dru Sjodin.

Remer states that accurate, clear, and detailed prints are needed from Rodriguez for comparison to the prints in both vehicles.

Major case prints are different from regular fingerprints because a print of the entire hand is taken, not just the fingertips.

Remer Let's say somebody breaks in, and we use this for an example, and they grab it like this ... and they use their fingers to pry it open ... we may not have enough fingerprint to identify that, but here ... with that area there ... you would use a major case print, and then you'd be able to identify that, because the hand print is unique, just like fingerprints are.

Walder Several officers were present today to take Rodriguez' major case prints, including Sgt. Remer and detective Duane Simon. Rodriguez' attorney David Dusek was also present.

Fingerprint technicians will now analyze the information, but those results won't be made public until the trial. From Grand Forks, I'm Cassie Walder.

SmithRodriguez preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 5th.

WDAZ TV
2220 South Washington
Grand Forks, ND 58201
701-775-2511
http://www.wdaz.com

Coverage Area:
WDAZ-TV is affiliated with WDAY-TV in Fargo, ND and is part of the Fargo DMA (Designated Market Area); consisting of 35 counties that have approximately 217,500 households.

DRU SJODIN DISAPPEARANCE: Law enforcement searches again

Police: Kidnapping case could still become homicide case

By Stephen J. Lee

Herald Staff Writer

Sgt. Walt Keller is on special assignment this week for the Polk County Sheriff's Office in Crookston. He's planning a big search for Dru Sjodin on April 17.
The search will focus on the Red Lake River west of Crookston, mainly because of the shoe found Nov. 25 under the U.S. Highway 75 bridge over the river that was determined by investigators to have been one Sjodin was wearing the day she disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~

Homicide case?
If the stepped-up searches this month find evidence of Sjodin's death, of course, the kidnapping charge could become a homicide case, said Grand Forks Police Lt. Dennis Eggebraaten.

click link to view entire article - very informative

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/8382094.htm