Crime Con 2025

 My heart aches for John Ramsey. I want to give him a huge hug. He spoke and met with authorities up there while in Denver. Stupid Boulder still won't release the DNA. He said they can afford to issue a picogram (one trillionth of a gram) to some place like Othram. Back in the day, it took a dime size. He offered to raise a million dollars to pay for the test and was still told no. To me this indicates it's an inside job in the police or DA office. His attorney of 28 years was with him. A new team is on the case, but the Colorado Investigative Bureau is not known for speed.

An FBI profiler said the murderer is either angry or jealous of Ramsey or it was a kidnapping gone wrong. A retired detective said someone wanted ransom, is male, sadistic and psychopathic. Whoever is "pure, demonic, evil." Ramsey said he didn't know anyone in his company or in his life who approached that kind of evil. He believes there is a 70 percent chance of solving with DNA examination. But Boulder says they need to keep some for the future defense attorney. Ramsey said that is an obsolete reason because of new technology. He has never ever gone back to the Boulder house. Just can't.

One thousand children are murdered every year. There are 18,000 police jurisdictions. The chief is on an island. The Boulder one didn't want help. Ramsey was worried that Moscow, Idaho, could be a Boulder, but that chief used the FBI and state police. Boulder was just plain negligent.

He said he met Elizabeth Smart's father and asked how he could go on when she was missing for months Jon Benet was missing for six hours. Smart had a gut feeling she was alive.

Ramsey said leads were a nuisance to Boulder police. He said leads on a phone today are primitive.  His attorney believes there is DNA on the garrote. There were splinters on Jon Benet and in Jon Benet. They are both more hopeful than they have ever been on finding the killer. The moderator who is a friend and author said she knows many things, like two cops in a meeting saying they knew it was the parents. It kind of stuck on them. Until it didn't. They were not given a subpoena for the grand jury though they volunteered. They would have had to be shown all statements made about them. Was that why--something made up/fake news? If I was a grand juror, I'd be outraged, it was said. Ramsey said they have nothing to hide. They are innocent. The police even wanted to withhold Jon Benet's body, but she did manage to get released for her funeral. The media didn't seem to report anything favorable toward the Ramseys.

There is a petition for Colorado to adopt a version of the federal Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act so loved ones can request a review using today's investigative tools. The last petition to the governor for a cold case review and new eyes got 55,000 signatures when Ramsey was hoping for 500. The Ramsey family has been slandered and mistreated for 29 years. IT IS TIME FOR JUSTICE. As Ramsey said, there has been “monstrous untruth of them.”

Aurora

Two Aurora retired police officers go around the world talking about what went wrong and right at the theater shooting. The killer had the guns legally and 3,000 rounds of ammo. Twelve were killed (one as young as 6). Police officers took 27 victims to hospitals themselves. The loser scouted sites and picked the theater for the maximum kill rate. It was a midnight movie with 350 people in theater 9. 1,100 people were in the entire building. Remember when you see a movie and spot someone on the front row seat near an exit, it could be suspicious. Leave. He put a clip on the door. He had satin sheets on his bed, so the policeman said you know he is weird.

911 couldn't hear the address because of all the shots. The first call alone had 37 rounds. They now train to know those sounds. Some moviegoers thought it was part of theatrics. The next call was from a 16-year-old employee who knew the address. 126 Aurora officers were sent and they needed more from Denver. Aurora is usually used for backup. The first arrival was in 2 minutes and 42 seconds, considered quick. Lanes were down from 6 to 2 due to construction. One off-duty officer had a key to the building from having worked there.

Complicating the matter was they didn't know if the one guy acted alone. He was spotted because he didn't have a police-type gas mask and he placed his gun on top of his car. Police don't do that. He wanted to live--even carried tourniquets. They train that if there is 1, there is 2. If there are 2, there are 3, and so on.

The movie kept playing because employees ran out. It was dark, there was gas; there was death all around.

Police don't go out and hurt people; they save lives. One made four separate trips to the hospital with six critically ill. In 49 minutes, all were evacuated out of the theater. One hospital was on diversion, but still managed to care for every patient. 76 rounds were fired inside. A lady in an adjoining theater took a shot to the face.

All with surviving type wounds lived. One even had organs falling out. There were 70 non-fatal injuries. 20 taken by ambulance, 12 by private vehicle and one who walked.

A photo showed the lines of bullets. You can see he aimed at those escaping. He had target practice sheets in his dumpster.

People with badges and stethoscopes are heroes.

Marcia Clark

Marcia Clark's first time at Crime Con. To discuss her book "Trial by Ambush" about the Barbara Graham trial. This was made into a movie called "I Want to Live" with Susan Hayward, who won best actress. The crime took place in 1953 and is very complicated to me. She had been poor and neglected. Her mom kept throwing her out and she made money by being a dice girl and shill. The victim was believed to have some of her son-in-law's money, but it was not found. She was living in the former home. She did have money and jewelry in her purse. She and her husband had been vaudeville skaters and champs. The verdict took two days for all on trial and they got the death penalty. It only took two or three years for them to die. She had a 5-year-old son. At the time of her death, her hair and clothing were being described. The defense attorney said she only testified to flaunt herself and seduce the male jurors. Her attorney objected, but it was overruled. Marcia looks a little shiny and her hair is a mess! She is working on another book.

Matt Murphy

Matt Murphy, my favorite presenter, talked about a Marine who was a serial killer and the defense blamed it on fetal alcohol syndrome.  He learned the subject matter from their writings and found ways to contradict them. For instance, one said we don't use the words mental retardation. He has video of him doing so. The Marine really had a normal life. These took place in California and Chicago. The women were stabbed or shot. One in a trunk tried to send mental signals to family. She did escape and amazingly a car was driving by in the desert to help her. The trial lasted six months and their families came from faraway places.

The capture: A rookie cop sees a sex worker in an argument and the dude has a firearm. He made the arrest when it matched up with some of the cases. He retrieved the gun one day before it was to be destroyed. One of the victim's roommates IDs was found with the Marine.

His first two convictions were commuted. But Matt says there are no free murders and got him to California for the others.

THE BEST LINES WERE THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY. "THE TRUTH AND BULL SHIT."

Matt hates what they did with BK; he wanted it to go to trial.

He said one takeaway is we learned what a philtrum is. Fetal alcohol victims have a smooth one, low birth weight and can't extend their fingers. He had a photo where the Marine could extend.

He said so-called expert witnesses do it for the money, are stupid or because they are against the death penalty. For instance, they even had his report card. One said he made Fs. But F meant fair.

Matt said serial killers perfect their technique as they go. He went from binding with twine to leather to handcuffs.

Marine hung himself in jail. He told Matt his PowerPoint was good before going to jail.

Joseph Scott Morgan

New Orleanian Joseph Scott Morgan talked about post-mortem interval assessment. There are seven cardinal signs of death.  Lack of respiration (does breath fog a mirror?), lack of pulse or heartbeat, fixed pupils, unresponsive to painful stimuli, cold skin, rigor or livor mortis (blue/purplish—I was livid comes from this), overt decomposition (odor, skin marbling or slippage, bloating). In the first hour of death, the body loses two degrees, then one degree up until the 12th.

The death investigator is an advocate for them—the voiceless. He was nervous for his first media interview. He was a professor so the reporter told him to just teach him.

He told a story of a fellow on his team that saw a hand of a supposed deceased move. Turns out it was the time of AIDS and the first responders didn’t want to deal with the blood from the slit wrists. The wrists were stitched, the person got blood and survived.

His exams are done on the scene—may be a road (could have been driven over) or open field: blood, onlookers, weather, maggots. Rain, humidity and barometric pressure affect the body temp.

He talked about the catacombs in Paris. They are multiple stories of stacked human remains due to overflowing cemeteries.

Luigi Mangione

That creep Luigi Mangione’s began with a virtual timeline. He had a fake ID at a hotel, paid cash at a Starbucks before the murder and discarded the cup (evidence), rode an e-bike in Central Park, ditched it, caught a cab where he is on video and then is spotted at the McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. He printed the gun, we know, and the silencer, did not know. He thought about the murder since August per his journals. He was in San Francisco thinking about killing someone from an architectural firm that builds healthcare facilities. He read about the Unabomber. He switched plans and followed Brian Thompson the night before he shot him. I would call this terrorism because it intimidates the population, people in similar jobs. Dude was class president and valedictorian and from a wealthy family. His cousin is in the Maryland legislature. He most certainly could have taken a different route to expose his issues. Some think United Health Care PAC gives to politicians so they would not be interested in laws that would hurt United Health Care.  I looked up Louisiana’s and it is pictured. Some think he is telegenic and could have been a spokesman for something of substance. I think he looks disgusting. His likeness was used to model a shirt on Shein. He thought he was representing people who don’t have a voice. I tell you everybody has a voice. Thompson’s family is still scared to come out. Dude thought some of the company’s policyholders were being murdered when denied, which could be true, but we don’t live vigilante style. Idiots are contributing to GiveSendGo even though dude’s family is wealthy. I will never ever use that site. GoFundMe does not accept such legal fundraisers. Ending: If you were dude, how would you explain your stupid rationale to Brian Thompson’s family?

And while I'm at it, why do South Carolina legislators choose judges? Not popular vote. This would seem to the father of Logan to not be well served because many of the legislators are attorneys who will represent someone before said judges and not get a fair trial. They would likely be thankful to legislators who put them in. Makes no sense to me.

Josh

I never pass up the opportunity to listen to Josh Mankiewicz’s session. He just renewed his contract. He turned 70, has been in the business 50 years and with Dateline, 30. He said love triangles are Dateline’s favorite part of geometry.  What’s different about Dateline journalism is there is no rush. They can interview someone two to three hours, plus talk beforehand. Mankie is happy he played a part in getting focus on minority crime stories. For example, there was a guy from Ghana who smoked dope long before it was legal in some places and a Russian guy was in the story. This episode came at a time when there were fewer story ideas and got high rankings. It was originally thought that minorities, people with access and those who were breaking the law and became a victim were a tough sell. Turns out that compelling and well told stories are all that is needed. All of the cast has different styles. Dateline wants them to sound like them and act like themselves. They asked for applause for those who listen live, stream or do the podcast. I was shocked that live did not win; I do not miss it. There have been 3,000 episodes and Mank has his favorites. He got asked about Keith and says he always posts he is going over to Keith’s to watch on Friday night. He’ll act like it is a long journey, with a camel, sea plane or canoe. He’ll also mention Boggle; he just thinks Keith is the Boggle type. He also made caricatures of the cast during the Olympics. He said back in the day, the news wanted people to cry; it would always be shown. Now, they like to give the interviewees a moment to leave the room or get a tissue. It’s hard to be in front of strangers with lights and cameras and makeup. Collecting themselves is more valuable than crying, he said. He was asked the most chilling killer and it was the guy who killed the people on the yacht. He said a memorable time was almost getting a beatdown in a Montana prison. Someone asked why are criminals so stupid. Mankie recalled someone buying a burner phone with a gift card registered to him. Dumb ones make it so much easier to solve.

Peter Van Sant

Peter Van Sant is so tall. He spoke of a Washington case about a dog trainer, heiress and body guard. A lady’s ex stalked her and she later got involved with her bodyguard who killed him. She was six feet tall and he was 5’6.” From far off, people thought she had a child. The panel believed she groomed the new boyfriend to kill. She wanted ex gone gone, not just to have papers of restraining orders.  There was even reverse stalking where new bf put drugs under ex’s vehicle. The body has never been found and there is talk that a hole was pre-dug. Murderer even returned some bolt cutters to Lowe’s but is on video at Walmart buying tarp and shin guards to protect from the dog trainer’s animals at 4 a.m. There is a freemichieloakes website. Why can’t the courts just handle everything without the public? Karen Read, Luigi. Stalking is horrific. Last Friday’s Dateline was a guy who wanted his wife gone and blamed an ex-boyfriend as the stalker, but got caught and last night’s “48 Hours” was the man in an affair with someone’s wife being the stalker of her husband and killing him.

Leo Schofield

Leo Schofield is convicted of murdering his wife of 18 in Florida in 1987 after six months of marriage. Someone else has confessed. He was a serial killer. She didn't come home from work and was found by her father-in-law with 26 stab wounds in a drainage ditch. She lost a half gallon of blood. The trailer neighbor lied about things and no blood was found in their home. The killer's brand of cigarettes was found at the site. There were other fingerprints on the car. Leo remarried a social worker in prison. Leo forgave the killer.

The Delphi Murders

These families have been around since my first time. This small town of 1,000 got 70,000 tips. They said information was their main weapon. In Indiana, jurors can ask questions. The prosecutor didn't want them to go to the scene. They could have been tampered with and the bridge was risky. I noticed he had an error on his slide. It was a trail where he put trial. Ugh.

These are family members of Libby and Abby. They said there will be generational trauma. I never thought about this. Their grandkids will one day see crime scene photos. They have a hard time with graduations of their classmates, and now weddings.

They said people will never know who they were before the murders. They said they wouldn't want the job of a judge week after week.

There is an annual Operation Christmas Child for Abby.

There is a Hulu episode out about this case. The defense attorneys were recording themselves. The dad of one of the victims said he has worked 40 years and never recorded himself at his job and found that odd.

There was a sketch of the suspect where he worked in CVS. They hinted to look behind you in the store and try to remember something about a person to practice helping with a sketch if you ever need to. I am going to do this.

Daybell Vallow

Colby Ryan, son of Lori Daybell Vallow, thinks his mom is a monster. She sent him a message through moderator Nate Eaton that said Matthew 25 today. He is very upset that his brother was found in a bag and his sister was just remnants. Lori told him she wanted to be cremated. Nate's reporting on the missing of DeOrr Kunz is still my favorite Crime Con story. He has really gotten some stories in Idado of all places. This and the Idaho 4.

Fatal Attraction

I'd Kill To Be You. It is about those obsessed with another's life so much that they want to take it. You enjoy someone's demise. This girl had an acquaintance who had a boyfriend and child. She had psuedocyesis, which is a phantom pregnancy (even had extended stomach) and went with her mother to the hospital. Later she killed and burned down her acquaintance's house. She took her baby and went to live with her mother for six years. Now, the mother knew she wasn't pregnant and knew her friend was killed, but never reported the situation. Mom was eventually charged with felony child concealment. She got three years of probation. This talk mentioned why people are obsessed with true crime. It's about helping solve, seeing the technology and learning to protect yourself. Like after a recent episode, I really watch where I park and probably always should have. And I'll never get in a boat without someone knowing.

Missing Babies

There are 342 missing babies, 0 to 6 months from 1964-2024. Either from home, a health-care facility or parking lot or something. The profile of a taker is may appear pregnant. They usually live in the same community and study the environment. A family told their story from 40 years ago. Someone acted like a social worker and asked the mom to go knock on the door of a place and she drove off. She was canvassing military housing. Some do get solved such as when one young man thought he just didn't feel right growing up. He started researching.

They said there is an uptick in Hispanic caseloads of missing people and think it could be someone acting as ICE to take them.

Manners of Death

There are five manners of death and 1,000s of causes. Manners are natural, accidental, suicidal, homicide and undetermined. This pathology assistant speaker showed some famous autopsy photos. Lisa Marie Presley had a small bowel issue. She once had gastric bypass and had had plastic surgery two months before and was on opioids because of that. So much is revealed in an autopsy. Princess Diana was worked on at the scene; that's how they do it in Paris. She was talking on the scene. She might have made it at a hospital if arriving faster like we do in the USA.

Idaho

Stacy Chapin, mother of Ethan from the Idaho 4, was on stage with the Othram lady.  Othram was contacted to do the DNA that turned out to be BK after saying they could do a profile in 48 hours or less. The evidence was escorted from the airport to them. Officials walked the lab and saw the chain of custody and left it there. Their team does not know the case due to confirmation bias. They all agreed to work over Thanksgiving. BK's DNA was narrowed to Pennsylvania and Italian heritage.  If perpetrators knew the greatness of Othram, they may think twice about committing a crime. Some have been solved after 47 years. They solved five yesterday! SOLVING A CRIME IS A CHOICE, SAID THE OTHRAM LADY. Do you hear that, Boulder? She said she has spoken with John Ramsey, but is not allowed to discuss cases until law enforcement does.  CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) is free, but not as extensive. CODIS still confirms Othram's findings. Chapin said an Idaho police officer called them every night. She said she walked off a lot of her grief. Even her dog was tired. One day she and her husband decided their other two triplets didn't deserve to have parents that were derailed. Othram said if they had only solved this case, it would be enough. Those two ladies really connected. She hopes universities will implement their software and funding and grants will be obtained.

Colorado DA

DA in Colorado spoke about Columbine, Aurora and Kobe Bryant (Colo. does not use the word rape). He said the theater shooting was the largest, most logistically challenging, most media scrutinized prosecution in Colorado. On Columbine, he said his mother would have never let him disassemble clocks to make bombs. Colorado uses judicial districts, not counties for DAs. It's the only state with term limits for them. Praise the Lord. He showed the mini theater that was built for the Aurora trial, which lasted from January to August. There was one victim who people thought would be President one day. He said the trial is still on YouTube except for jury selection. He said the newspaper never liked him and he couldn't get an endorsement even if unopposed. He was funny. His team did keep track of social media comments and used some of the questions people were posting. Post to help your prosecutors, he said.

Cults

Cults are counterfeits of faith. They exploit religion and make it feel like devotion. Polygamy is legal in half of the world.

Boston Marathon

It was quite the serious police work.  It took 101 hours and 25 minutes to solve. The presenter showed a lot of sights and sounds. The carjacked victim could not speak English, so that didn’t help much.  The one in the boat rolled over his brother in the car. I don’t ever speak their names. The hurt police officer was taken to the hospital with an emergency brake on the ambulance the whole way, driven by a police officer, and it was not to a Level 1 trauma center and his life was still saved. Boston was actually shut down/shelter in place. Lots of jurisdictions were involved, all Type A. We know about the boat scene, but I didn’t realize there was a ladder near the boat and the man in the home had gone outside to smoke and let his dog out. I don’t know how the loser survived with all the bullets fired. The street was full of cop cars, only cop cars. It was almost impossible to move on the road, as Boston and surrounding city streets are narrow. I was never more frightened to drive than in Boston. This part was new to me: the exhaustion, hunger and thirst of the police during the search. The presenter said the dispatcher had an accent like Cliff Clavin on steroids. That was true! You hear the boat owner tell him, “I’m absolutely not going to the boat.” But so many cops did! A robot first removed the tarp.

27,000 were in the marathon and once the bomb went off, there was no cell service. They still to this day don’t know why. It was refreshing to see crowds yelling good job and clapping for the police. The dead brother’s issue may have been he was a boxer and was mad he didn’t get in a national tournament due to lack of citizenship. The capture was on Patriots’ Day, a big deal in Boston.

Susan Smith

What I didn't know about Susan Smith  is the community handled it well when she blamed a black man for carjacking her. If a black man had stolen the kids, she was the victim. If she gave them away, she would be a bad mother. Most carjackers don't kill kids. Apparently she liked a co-worker who didn't like kids and she wanted to start fresh with him. He called it shaking the Etch A Sketch. She also had sex with his father. She wore his Auburn sweatshirt in initial appearances. She and her husband were estranged. Her stepfather abused her at 16. He was a huge Republican Party leader.  The sheriff was her godfather. She is up for parole every two years and has had sex with prison guards. She enjoyed media attention, but they dressed her frumpy for court. Court workers had new hairdos and wardrobes. She did not get the death penalty; only one or two women in S.C. had at that point. Her husband and mother wrote books. The prosecutor advised David Smith not to look like he was trying to make money off of the deaths of the two boys. But the defense had a copy the first day of trial. He donated the money to children's charities. There was a bomb threat during the trial. When the test video of it taking six minutes for the kids to drown was shown, Susan was playing tic tac toe. They thought Detroit might provide a car, but they wanted media rights, so they got one undercover. The prosecutor said when choosing whether TV coverage should be allowed, he would look like he had something to hide if not allowed, and would appear to be a glory hound if it was. He said having a sketch artist makes good Christmas gifts.

Herb Baumeister

Herb Baumeister, a suspected killer of 13 gay men near Indianapolis allegedly killed himself in Canada. Their scattered remains totaling 9,800 are on a shelf at a university. Handcuffs are on some of the bones. It is the largest amount of fragments since 9/11. He was a business man with a double life as a serial killer. His son found a skull at their Fox Hollow home and the dad said it belonged to his doctor dad as an educational item. He apparently lured these men from bars to his swimming pool and strangled them with a hose. The mother of one of the victims kept her landline because that is the only number he knew. The government there would not fund DNA searches and put it on the families. The sheriff is not giving up.

Lineups

A panel featuring favorite Matt Murphy showed that police lineups are very difficult. We are more capable of recognizing our own race.  They showed how three people differed on stage in the race, height, weight and age. This leads to false convictions, which I am really beginning to wonder about. In one lineup, people were so sure of the guy, but he was at work making sales and they got his fingerprint on credit card papers to prove so. Some people are super recognizers. They never forget a face.

Dear Jacob

 

I will never forget this line. Ever. Jacob Wetterling, 11, said to his mother. “Sorry I was so crabby today. Do you want to play a game?” She said she could not. Laundry, meals, dance, hockey, basketball, friends, sleepovers. The next day, he was kidnapped in St. Joseph, Minn., in front of his brother and best friend, Aaron. It was 1989. How horrible she didn’t spend some last minutes with him even though she didn’t know how long this would play out—2016.

 

I first saw this on “20/20.” The “Dear Jacob” book came out days later, so well-written. The family story is years long and this is a long read, but worth every second. No case of all I Datelines, etc., watched since 2014 has affected me more. It’s just easier to write it up chronologically.

 

The law asked the boys where the man took Jacob, and about the vehicle, headlights, his size, voice, clothing, smells, mask, gun, which hand he held it in, whether they were playing with a gun and it went off and they were afraid to say. The parents were eating with friends and Jacob asked his dad if they could bike ride to the video store. He allowed it as it was not far. The parents were asked if anyone liked him “too much?” Offered to buy him things? Had enemies? Did the father have disgruntled employees?

 

Mom Patty was born in 1949. Her father’s car was struck by a train. He slowly recovered, but had complications from Type 1 diabetes. She was diagnosed at 33. He died at 36. Their church family supported the siblings and her mother. Her mother fell in love again in about a year with a pharmacist. She got pregnant rather quickly.

 

Patty was a math major and once taught on a ship. She’d been a soccer coach, PTA president, enterainment director for an art festival, insurance processor at her husband’s chiropractic business and landlord. She had a minor in psychology and dreamed about becoming a guidance counselor.

 

After Jacob went missing, the normal daily living felt like a betrayal.

 

There were traditional flyers and buttons. “Listen” was Jacob’s favorite song. Radio stations played it at 7 a.m. Friday mornings. Singer Red Grammer visited schools in St. Joseph to perform impromptu concerts. The governor, FBI, National Guard, national media, military personnel, dogs, horseback posse, ham radio operators and small aircraft flying clubs stepped in. A $100,000 reward was posted and there was a toll-free hotline.  People would say dad Jerry was too calm, didn’t cry, didn’t look terrified or angry. There was a never-ending parade of psychics. Phone entries to their home averaged one every five minutes. One day there was one from the Oakland A’s catcher representative. He was going to wear a J on his World Series helmet. Terry Steinback was a native of Minnesota. The father of missing Kevin Collins from San Francisco had a mailing list of places where missing kids are commonly found. Truck stops, hospitals and social service agencies. He coordinated volunteers to help with mass mailings to keep Kevin in the media. Kevin was on milk cartons. They were hoping to attract people to stamp, address and stuff and sort 35,000 flyers. They had hoped for 100 and 1,000 showed up, some with their own stamps. Kevin’s foundatioln had statistics about stranger abduction, prevention advice, tips for recognizing an abducted child and information on how to help.

 

Patty found out Aaron was groped by the man. She wanted the truth, not deception. She had to survive the moment-to-moment-ness of her new reality. She would talk to Jacob to let him know how hard they were working. It calmed her down. Her letters to him started being published in the newspaper. Does the abductor buy gas around here? Live alone? Does he make smart-aleck comments at home or work?

 

Neighbors brought flowers, food, Kleenex, toilet paper and cards. They were magical when they first arrived. The mail! She tore them open for ransom notes. Some had money. They had a map of where their flyers were going in the state. Getting up was an accomplishment for Patty. Normal things were impossible. She could smell Jacob’s sweaty hair. A shower was a luxury she thought she did not deserve. But she did it because how could she expect Jacob to stay strong if she didn’t.

 

Brother Trevor was scared to go into the bedroom. How could you crime-scene-ize your child’s bedroom?

 

Husband Jerry was president of the Chamber of Commerce and the NAACP. He was an active member of the Baha’i Faith. They had marriage counseling when he was concerned about her friendship with one of his Baha’i friends and she was concerned about his tendency to constantly reach out to people he perceived to be in need. He had been raised Lutheran and she in a congregational church. They compromised and went to an Episcopal one. Both had been math teachers. Baha’i believe that God periodically sends divine messages to encorage moral and spiritual development throughout mankind. They believe Moses, Jesus and Muhammad and most recently Baha’u’llah are some of the messengers of God who reveal spiritual guidance to humanity. They strive for world peace and advocate for racial unity, gender equality, universal education and harmony of science and religion. Patty attended open Baha’i gatherings with Jerry, but every 19 days where they celebrated Feast, non Baha’i were not allowed to attend. Jerry gave up drinking because it was forbidden and they did not go to bars. Some wondered if Jerry was gay. He was analytical. He would ask her why are you asking? When do you need an answer? They reverted to their core selves during the trauma. She was a realist and loved meeting people, focusing on solid leads and facts; Jerry was the idealist, focusing on principles, prayers and spiritual energy. Introvert vs. her extrovert. When she turned to the cops, he turned to his faith.

 

They met in geometry class and he called her the brown-nose because she sat in the front and he arrived late, seemingly hung over. He played the game 500. He was one inch over six feet tall and she was five feet, one inch. He was small town and she was big city.

Jerry found a job in D.C. with the National Jogging Association that fulfilled his two-year alternative service obligation, qualifying under the category of promoting the nation’s health. They became vegetarians and started running together.

 

Her stepfather died in 1972. He was 49.

 

The FBI sent her flowers on her 40^th birthday saying their prayers are with her and her family.

 

The Minnesota North Stars wore JW on their helmet. The Vikings wore special baseball caps along the sideline that said Jacob’s “Hope and Listen.” The family went to center court at the inaugural Timberwolves game vs. Bulls. Jacob shared the same birthday as Michael Jordan. Signs of support were in yards as were white ribbons on mailboxes, lamp posts and car antennas. People kept porch lights on. City Hall had an 11-foot candle that said Jacob’s Hope on the roof. The high school planted a tree of hope. Vietnam veterans did a 65-mile walk to raise money for his fund. He had become “everybody’s child.”

 

Geraldo Rivera came and moved the couch for his interview to find popcorn, dog hair and junk. Sounds like my place. Patty didn’t like the show, but her sister said not to write him a nasty letter because she might need him one day. They interviewed Jerry’s patients, neighbors, teachers, coaches and Boy Scout leaders, but he was never in the Scouts.There was a rumor that Jerry wasn’t his real dad. Some thought his religion killed their first-born sons.

 

Tears, prayers, songs, hugs nor media hadn’t brought Jacob back in three weeks. Patty started making chocolate chip cookies and it made her feel less mean, angry, vindictive and cynical.

 

A student told Jerry several juvenile boys in Paynesville had been molested by a Duane Hart. He was a groomer with gifts, drugs and alcohol. Jacob was taken by force. By gunpoint. Hart supposedly didn’t have a car. They also learned of Jared, 13, abducted and assaulted in Cold Spring. Danny Heinrich, a Paynesville man, was a suspect in Jared’s case. They tracked down a car he owned previously and Jared ranked it as a resemblance of the car in his abduction a 9 of 10.

 

The False Hope part

One day the public address system at a shopping center announced Jacob had been found. Someone mistook “Jason” for Jacob. There was a standoff in a house where the man was talking about Jacob. There was a caller who said he was Jacob. There were claims he was on a flight to Amsterdam, a homeless shelter, convenience store in Reno, gun show in Phoenix and flea market in New Mexico. Another missing boy got to go home because someone noticed a suspicious situation and called it in. A body was found about Jacob’s age in water. Someone had broken into a crypt, stolen a recently deceased body, cut off his head, hands and feet and threw him into the river.

 

Kevin shared Steven Stayner’s story. He was 7 in California in 1972. Men were collecting donations for the church. He showed them the way. For seven years he was brainwashed into believing his parents did not want him and that he had been adopted. Another child was abducted and Steven snuck him out of the house and they hitchhiked. We should all be able to spot a child in trouble.

 

Patty learned the lures, kind of people who do this and safety tips. She lined up safety talks at schools, churches and organizations. Scaring kids does not make them safer. Helping them be confident and staying connected to their parents does. She wanted the good people to pull together because there are more of them. Stronger than one really bad man. She gathered more stories, not necessarily stats. People remember hope. 1) You are special. Jacob loves peanut butter and sneezes in the sun. Lures are not candy and money. Children need attention and love. 2. Nobody has the right to hurt you, physically or sexually. If someone does touch you, it’s not your fault. Don’t keep it a secret. Someone reported naked lady pictures of his dad in the garage and a boyfriend of a mother who threatened her with a knife. One high school girl’s father was still giving her baths.

 

The Wetterlings  went to the State Capitol to address the missing children issue. They thanked legislators and lawmakers wore Jacob’s Hope ribbons. The governor established a commission on child abduction to make recommendations to the Legislature.

 

Patty was on the governor’s task force on missing children along with human service agencies, educators, law enforcement, social service agencies, missing children organizations, criminal justice, religious communities, parents of missing children and concerned citizens. The subcommittees were non-family abduction, parental, runaways and throwaways, public education and system needs. She was chair of the first one. She said the first thing that would have helped her was a central repository of information and sex offender registration. Sharing was needed between agencies. Information was in silos. California had a registry of sex offenders since the early 1970s. Stearns County had identified more than 5,000 sexual offenders in Minnesota in the first few months of Jacob’s kidnapping. Offenders can have 100 victims.

 

The siblings when confronted that their brother was dead would say I’ve gotta go. That’s now what we believe. You don’t have all the information. The family chose to hope.

 

After a year, the investigators went from 75 to eight, four from Stearns County, two from the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension office and two from the FBI. Tens of thousands of leads had been reported.

 

Patty lost it when the kids came home with new school photos. The kids’ faces no longer had sparkles of innocence. They held questioning expressions. Trevor slept on a sleeping bag on the floor of the parents’ bedroom or a fold-out bed in Carmen’s room.

 

There was a prayer service at the College of St. Benedict, tree-planting at Centennial Park, walk/run, release of homing pigeons sent from her sister Barbi in California. The note said: I am sending you a symbol of hope, freedom, flight in hopes they will take with them some of the rage and horror of the past year and show us a freedom which we await so impatiently.

 

The current governor lost and recommendations needed to go to the new one. They brought along a former runaway, a father whose children had been kidnapped by his estranged wife and Patty with the perfect stranger abduction. The new governor put his feet on his desk and said: Am I going to have to listen to more of these? Patty wanted a violent crime center, a time limit of four hours for law enforcement to submit reports to the center, training about the use of it and updated sentencing guidelines. A sex offender registry? You can’t do that, the new governor said. “These people have rights.” That was Gov. Arne Carlson. Patty’s sheriff rose to his feet and she had to settle him down. She studied other state’s laws. The Minnesota Sex Offender Registration Act finally passed the Legislature, the 15^th state to do so. Dave Durenberger asked for help at the federal level. Offenders were choosing where to live based on states that didn’t have mandatory registration. President Bill Clinton signed the Jacob Wetterling Act. Patty’s presence personified the situation and brought it home.

 

She starting finding Jerry hard to talk to and he preferred to avoid deep discussions. Her world was dominated by pedophiles, sex offenders and victims of sexual assault. The Wetterlings were interrogated, polygraphed, pitted against each other and made targets of lies and scandals. They were even extorted. A prisoner made threats that they arranged the abduction in order to get money. 

 

She received no money for speaking engagements and wouldn’t take it from the foundation because she was afraid people might accuse her of making money off of Jacob’s disappearance. Parents of the missing lose their jobs because of absenteeism and distractions. Some hire private investigators. Jerry had withdrawn $30,000 for cell phone bills, pizza for volunteers, etc. When the tip line was about to be taken down, the foundation paid a portion of the bill. They had three full-time staffers. The family wrestled with raising children, running his business, serving on the board, educating other children, supporting other parents, advocating for laws and speaking at events. Gone were the mall days or quick bites at restaurants without interruption, though hugs, encouragement and well-wishes were appreciated.

 

The foundation expanded to missing adults, parental abductions and international abductions. They needed more clarity and vision. She took a hiatus and the executive director tended to business. The executive committee, which she was not on, dismissed the staff and director, a dear friend.  Patty didn’t want the public to think funds were mismanaged or they were closing. Several board members resigned and volunteers were upset. They began charging for speaking. Patty joined the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children board and was on the program committee. At her first White House briefing, she heard Janet Reno, attorney general, say the three elements of the crime bill were punishment, policing and prevention. Chief of Staff Mack McLarty of Arkansas filled in for Al Gore. (As Arkla CEO, he used to stay at the Remington Suite Hotel when I managed prior to the White House job). The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act signing was in the Rose Garden. It was awful yet it was an honor. Patty had learned so much that she had a three-ring binder she constantly carried while traveling.

 

Jacob’s Hope T-shirts were sold at his school on the fifth anniversary. There was a time capsule that he could open when he returned. Letters, poems, a wish, autographed football, Class of 1996 keychain and hockey puck. It was handmade by a 34-year-old industrial arts teacher who had passed away earlier in the year.

 

When the FBI agent went to make a donation to the foundation, he had a photo of Jacob in there along with his own family. The FBI field office had no no family photos or crayon pictures on the cube walls. In more talks, Bahai’i came up again. They don’t have clergy. When there are enough members in a community, they elect a nine-member Local Spiritual Assembly which guides the community and manages administrative duties. The supreme governing body is located in Israel. The faith started in Iran. Bahai’s believe God has sent messengers at different times to deliver his messages to the world. One theory was that Jacob was kidnapped by them and taken out of the country to be groomed as a leader. They thought he knew the kidnapper. There was only one set of footprints on the road and they were Jacob’s. That would mean the person who took him was a signficant distance away, not dragging or carrying him. It appears Jacob went willingly. Strangers had gone into the Wetterling home over the years.

 

The sheriff told Patty early on that she could not tire.

 

Daughter Amy went to college where no one knew her and she could blend in. Patty finally cleaned Jacob’s room and saw his name in cursive on the closet wall. She placed her hand on his signature and could almost feel his pulse. Aaron stayed close to the family.

 

Patty testifed with John Walsh in a House committee. They were urging the FBI to provide immediate assistant to police departments in child abductions.  Walsh pushed for a capital crime even in states without the death penalty. Patty did not support the death penalty. Walsh used words like predator and monster, but Patty said they are typically living in the neighborhood and attend community churches. They could be a coach, teacher, brother or uncle. Some Minnesota lawmakers argued that public notification was an infringement on a person’s right to privacy. She also became acquainted with Marc Klaas.

 

Patty was a torchbearer in the 1996 Olympics, running one kilometer across an 84-day, 42-state journey to Atlanta. The flame never goes out and it helped her feel Jacob’s spirit. The three and a half pound torch had power. She felt connected to it. Like she was carrying the message of child safety, to protect it from the elements and transfer it to the next amazing human being to carry, preserve and pass on. She gave a commencement speech. Five years earlier, two 14 year olds in Jacob’s class had been struck by a car and killed. Another was in a fatal accident the same year. A police officer had been killed in the line of duty. Two months before, another student was in a car accident and the parents were going to speak as well. The principal said the school felt like a morgue at times. No smiles and no chatter about future plans. They had braved it together. Each had a white ribbon pinned to his gown in honor of Jacob. The choir sang Jacob’s Hope.  Jon’s parents said he would want all of them to succeed and go after their dreams. Patty said she watched them grow up because they couldn’t watch Jacob. You deserve to be proud, she told them. The mascot was an eagle. She thought of Jacob if she saw one. She wondered what position he would have played on the football field. What girl he would have asked to prom. What college he would have selected. They went through one agonizing milestone to the next.

 

In 1989, there were 100 organizations across the country that advocated for missing children. Most didn’t get along with each other. There was competition over funding.

 

Trevor was homecoming king, played wide receiver and went to St. Cloud State University.

 

By the end of 1998, Patty spent 105 days traveling, making presentations in 16 states and two countries. She was hired as a speaker for Fox Valley Technical College which received grants from the National Criminal Justice Training Center. She and another missing mother agreed a handbook was needed for when a child goes missing—with resources and heartfelt advice. She also began, through a grant, parent to parent mentoring. There was a toll-free number.

 

She wrote another letter published on the ninth anniversary. Jacob had his grandpa’s middle name. You were once an 11-year-old boy. Someone’s son and brother. Do you also love peanut butter? Did you sneeze when you looked at the sun?  Did you play jokes on April Fool’s?  Please talk to me. She was so hopeful the perpetrator would call that she kept a notebook by the phone with a list of questions. There was a flurry of new tips, nothing from him.

 

Carmen went to the University of Wisconsin. Amy got her criminal justice degree. She met her husband Chris at a fundraiser for Jacob held near his birthday. The Vikings head coach had the same birthday and graciously served as honorary chair for several years. When they married, they had a kind note for Jacob in the wedding program. One of Jacob’s friends designed her own major, Child Abduction Prevention, at St. Olaf.

 

Patty’s mom, who seldom took center stage, stepped up to home plate at the HHH Metrodome and urged 15,000 Twins fans to talk to kids about safety. Patty unveiled the AMBER alert in Minnesota. The system would be tested twice a year, once on the day of his abduction. The other on National Missing Children’s Day on May 25.

 

There had been 30,000 leads in 12.5 years. The Boston Globe’s investigation of clergy sexual abuse came out and people wondered if a monk or priest did something to Jacob. Patty thought it far-fetched because why go to a dead-end road when they had access at church and schools and camps. There were two clergy who had visited their home to offer support. Their names were on the list. One had hosted the first community prayer service. The other invited kids to his house for movie night.

 

Barbi struggled with alcoholism. Every year she sent a dozen roses on Jacob’s birthday—11 in a bright color and one white for hope. She took care of Patty for six weeks. Wear this. Comb your hair. Talk to this person. Eat. When their mother passed, Patty begged for her to let her know if she saw Jacob in heaven. She would miss her mother’s calm, kind and gentle spirit.

 

The 13^th anniversary had another article. Patty tried to find Jacob, protected kids, educated parents, changed laws and supported other families. She noticed a kid in a car while the parent was in a liquor store. They would never leave a $50 bill on the seat with the windows down and car running. She left one of Jacob’s missing flyers on his seat. She was aware of another story where a man knocked on a car window and told them their parents wanted them to come inside. He took one of them for 10 months. At one of the organizations, the office administrator’s 10-year-old son had been abducted by the ex-husband. He was recovered after eight months.

 

At one organization, bills were not being paid and Patty was blamed. She was fired by close colleagues even though she founded it. She was sabotaged.

 

They went through three sheriffs during the ordeal and learned factors you should know. Keep the story alive in the media. People need to come forward who witness a situation that doesn’t feel right. Make sure police respond quickly to tips.

 

In another letter, Jacob’s kindergarten teacher had said 28 students called and wanted to say thank you to Patty for keeping them safe. The teacher said she was just doing her little part and thanked Patty for doing the big part.

 

Patty was approached to be a candidate for Congress because she had run two federal programs, applied for federal grants and helped change federal law. Some felt she would be too nice. She sought out people who were experts for counsel and advice. She had 91 percent name recognition in her district.  She got to speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Jerry could not campaign because of his religious beliefs. She considered herself a centrist. She got criticized for not having a gun permit or a fishing license. But she did and someone even called a resort they went to frequently to ask. How would this make her a better Congresswoman? She did not believe the federal government should decide abortion. She didn’t think there was a blanket decision to cover personal situations and was advised to avoid the topic.  Staff forgot to block off her calendar on the week of her daughter’s wedding, which I find insane, so she had to cancel a debate. (An eagle circled over Trevor’s wedding). The opponent would not accept five alternative dates and criticized her for canceling. She was glad to see her daughter get married; they had experienced fear and sadness, hope and heartbreak, unwanted publicity, horrifying leads and people they knew being investigated. Patty cast her vote on her 65^th birthday. She recalled being the scared kindergartener when she lost her dad. The happy second grader when her mom remarried. A proud big sister. The soda jerk, cheerleader, college student, teacher, wife, mom and victim of a terrible crime. In five months her team set up an office with 17 staffers and hundreds of volunteers. They raised $2 million and the race brought the President there. She didn’t promise more than she could deliver, did not lie and hadn’t sacrificed integrity. She focused on taxes, small business, labor unions, farming, jobs, education, the economy, government spending and all inner workings of a campaign, like cramming for finals. She lost, 46 percent. It was the most expensive congressional race in Minnesota history. Her opponent was going to run for Senate. She felt she would beat him in a statewide race because Minnesotans tend to be more liberal than those in her Sixth District. She competed against Amy Klobuchar and Ford Bell, the president of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. She ended up withdrawing; she liked Klobuchar. She was encouraged to run for House again. One candidate was Michele Bachmann. Rep. Mark Foley, an advocate for child safety, resigned after allegations arose that he sent sexually explicit emails and instant messages to pages. She had worked with him on  preventing predatory behavior. Other leaders knew he did this for a year! These kids as pages were vulnerable and far from home. Patty gave the Democratic response to George W. Bush’s weekly radio address after the scandal. She was accused by her opponent as rushing to judgment and exploiting the situation for political gain. This was her life’s work! Bachman won this time.

 

Then Patty got a call that the director of the sexual violence prevention program at the Department of Health was leaving. The office was in the Golden Rule Building. The number of children and adults sexually assaulted in 2005 in the state could fill the Metrodome—60,000 in one year. She produced a five-year plan to protect them. The daily commute was 180 miles.

 

Twenty years came and went. Two key people gave the Wetterling’s strength. Vern Iverson who coordinated the media response and Grammer’s song called “Listen.” They planned a concert with proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Club and the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center. There came a regional outage and power came back on 20 minutes before the show was supposed to start. There could be no light or sound checks. During the concert, Patty read from a book she had written for her three grandchildren, one named Jake for Jacob. Family photos flashed. When you see a rainbow, when you blow out a candle and make a wish, or tell a funny joke…When you hug your best friend, or your little sister, and when you to go to sleep at night…You can know that Jacob is smiling inside your heart. We call that special place in your heart Jacob’s Hope. Media did the annual shaking of the tree, as she called it. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune featured Aaron in a cover story, “Gone 20 Years But With Him Every Day.” The what ifs included what if the moon had been full and they could have spotted the man earlier, what if the man took Aaron instead of Jacob? Barbi had told Patty she believed Jacob’s body was buried.

 

Patty finally spoke with a neighbor. He had seen a car that night. He thinks the person did a test run.

 

Patty had a dream that she was pushing Jacob in a wheelchair and he asked here when she got so old. She became a grandma of twins. Double everything with half the sleep, she said.

 

She wanted her speeches to leave people empowered and committed to a safer world. A second grader once wrote: Jacob will be fine, If he isn’t all right, you will see him in heaven. Or my dog died. Jacob can play with him. She met someone named Joy, a blogger, after a speech. She had been writing about Jacob. There was talk of a work van with no windows. Patty thinks of him every time she sees one.  Joy had even looked up the weather report and found the moon hadn’t risen until midnight on that date, so 9 p.m. would be totally dark.

 

Patty got an envelope about someone assuming Jacob’s identity. The dude got driver’s licenses in three states, rented a P.O. Box and car dealers let him go for test drives without a deposit. He drove to Mexico to sell them. He was caught when he applied for a passport. He needed a birth certificate and pretended to be Jacob’s father and Jacob. The clerk knew his missing story, however. Patty could not believe someone used this for personal gain and called it cruelty among the lowest she’d seen. Joy had known about it from a San Francisco media story. The family didn’t.

Joy believed Jared and Jacob’s abductor were the same person--voice, authoritative manner, threat of a gun and similar commands. “Run and don’t look back, or I’ll shoot.” Among the other boys, one said the mask was like indoor-outdoor candy-striped carpeting. He was about 5’ 11” and not chunky. A baseball cap had been left at one scene and was misplaced. It was later found and sent to the DNA lab. Clothing of Jacob’s was sent as DNA technology improved—a snowmobile suit, sweatshirt and T-shirt were tested periodically.

 

The cities of Paynesville, Cold Spring and St. Joseph were in the same county.

 

Patty had been on The 700 Club, Joan Rivers, Phil Donahue, Maury Povich, John Walsh’s The Hunt and Nancy Grace. In Reader’s Digest, People, Good Housekeeping and O. They reached out to truckers’ magazines and flea market publications. Joy’s blog was a new thing. They learned stories of Duane Hart about drug running, arson and bar fights. He had a makeshift camp. He lured boys to swim and fish. Then he molested them. He bribed them with drugs and alcohol. He had a car, Joy said. He was arrested.

 

A huge missing persons summit included federal law officials, forensic scientists, medical and mental health professionals, survivors and victim advocates. Their own sheriff did not attend after many invitations.  The summit was inspired by the recoveries of Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard and Gina DeJesus. Missing children are traumatized, terrified and constantly told that they or their loved ones would be killed if they tried to escape. Joy’s blog visits grew from 100 a day to 30,000. A recurring theme was look into Delbert and Tim Huber. Delbert killed a teacher. Son Tim helped him cover it up. Delbert resembled a sketch. Delbert died in prison in 2014. If he had knowledge, it was taken to the grave.  There had been a body found in the Mississippi, bones in the woods in Northern Minnesota, a Milwaukee barber who had kept haunting journals and one of Jacob’s missing posters, he was “seen” in a mental hospital in London and in Amsterdam.  Joy made a spreadsheet of tips, prioritized from most important to least and sorted them by suspect. Then the blog generated 69 tips.

 

ANCMEC found 56 children who were recovered after more than 20 years.

 

The saddest I got was when Patty said they had an age-progressed photo of Jacob at 35. Along with the fifth-grade one. I actually gasped.

 

She put together a list of 25 ways to build hope in children:

Help me build a fort, stop at my lemonade stand, read to me, listen without distractions, join me in finding animal shapes in clouds, model kindness, create art, teach me empathy, put an encouraging note in my lunch, do something with me to make our block more beautiful, sing to me, remind me to share, be a voice for youth, celebrate differences, dance with me, teach me something new, help me create snow angels, tell me campfire stories over S’mores, take technology breaks, ask me my opinion, create a scavenger hunt, volunteer somewhere together, put together a neighborhood event, take me on a bike ride, talk to me about online and body safety.

 

The tree planted at Jacob’s school was now 30 feet tall, once the height of a six-grader. The Law Enforcement Center had a Jacob Wetterling Conference Center. People were still asked to call in tips. From 2009 to 2013, more than 160 kids who were missing between 11 and 20 years were found. Forty-two who had been missing more than 20 years were found. Patty clipped articles, saved and studied them. On the 25^th anniversary, friends came by with a white rose and baby’s breath from former neighbors, as they had done all prior years. A Lakota friend did a smudging and prayer. Patty lit candles and played songs that reminded her of her son. Listen, Jacob’s Hope and Somewhere Out There. Joy and Jared helped her feel stronger. The four were a force—energized, empowered, determined, undeterred and undaunted.

 

Patty retired in 2015. Her life had been all about leads, sightings, media, speaking, travel, prioritizing, response modes, waiting for the other shoe to drop.  At 65, she became a landlord.

 

Finally Danny Heinrich became a match to the DNA. There was a sword collection photo from his home. In a home video, there was a handgun in a safe, black like the one Trevor and Aaron described. It was not in the safe now. There were 19 binders of child porn. A sneaker transposed on the mold of his footprint. The tire matched. The arrest charge would be on federal charges of child porn. It was surreal and terrifying. It wasn’t a priest, monk, railroad guy, junkyard guy or  campground guy. It wasn’t Duane Hart. The Wetterlings had a plan to go to Colorado for Halloween to see grandchilden and still did. The principal at Amy’s school allowed her off and Carmen’s supervisor did the same.  Before Jacob was kidnapped, parents let their kids trick-or-treat. That went away in 1989. It was replaced by parties or the mall. Reporters who weren’t even born yet lined the Wetterling drive when they returned. An article came out with victims, one anonymous, these men being silenced and voiceless for almost 30 years. Joy wanted a healing gathering, but it was called a community information session. Media were banned from the questions and answers session. They planned it for Nov. 30 and the roads were impassable. It was postponed until Dec. 6 and held anyway after much fog and freezing rain. The Strib reporters asked about vehicles, party spots and anything about Heinrich.

 

The trial was like being dropped onto another planet.

 

Jared did not have money for an attorney, but a reporter tried to help. A civil case could provide the opportunity to subpoena people and have them testify under oath. Jared had a divorce, lost opportunities for promotion and had recent unemployment due to anxiety and stress. He said there was not a day that went by where he didn’t think about that guy who harmed him and he wanted him to pay for taking away his childhood.

 

They found Jacob’s jacket on a farm where a couple was raising five children and leading innocent lives. Porch lights were on for Jacob. Light posts had white ribbons. Newspapers were sold out.  Our Hearts Are Broke, read the headline.  The first four pages had the discovery of his remains, the timeline and the reaction of local residents. Their grandchild is 11, the same age as the missing Jacob. This also saddened me.

 

Patty wanted to know what brought Heinrich to St. Joseph, how did he come across the boys, why them, why that road, what happened, why didn’t he let Jacob go? The sheriff said he was just out searching for a young boy to molest, drove until he had an opportunity, got out and waited. What did I do wrong? Jacob asked. He told him to take his clothes off, then he molested him. Jacob was cold and Heinrich told him he could get dressed. Can I go home now? He said he could not. He saw a police car go by with lights on and told Jacob he had to pee and made him turn around. He raised a gun to his head. It clicked but did not go off. Again, but Jacob did not fall. Next time he fell.  He walked to a gravel pit to bury him. He brought a shovel, but decided it would take too long. He walked by a construction company and saw a Bobcat. He knew where they hid the key. He dug the hole and put Jacob in, threw his jacket on top of him and covered him up. About a year later, he went back and caught a glimpse of something red. He had been pulled up to the surface by growing brush. He went back that night and dug him up. Then he put the remains in a garbage bag, carried him across the highway to that rural farm property and buried him under a grove of trees. Patty’s firstborn son who she hugged through a million owies, illnesses, cuddles and rocking, wasn’t there she he needed her. When asked what people could do, Patty said say a prayer, light a candle, be with friends, play with their children, giggle and hold hands. Eat ice cream, suggested another. Create joy. Help your neighbor. She wondered what Jacob would want her to wear for the memorial. She pulled out black and then turquoise. Blue was Jacob’s favorite color. 

 

In the courtroom, Patty stated:  Jacob, I got old the day you were taken from us. I may be 66 now, but as of today, I’m officially 26 years, eight months and six days old. Jacob was alive until we found him. She told the media they needed to heal, and would then speak to them. I found that odd because they had helped her so much. There were a lot of lessons learned. Coping, Processing. Remembering. Mourning. Screaming in agony. He had empty words in court. He had no spirit, no regret. He was just cold, pathetic and hollow.  She was depleted.

 

Danny added heads of classmates from junior high yearbooks to the bodies of naked children he found on the internet.  Patty’s momgut reeled with pain. She learned Jacob was handcuffed.

 

They came up with 11 traits on how he lived his life. Fair, kind, understanding, honest, thankful, good sport, good friend, joyful, generous, gentle with others, positive. A hockey team came up with #11for Jacob, his soccer number. Kids used duct tape on the backs of their shirts. A volleyball team wrote the traits on their arms. A football team walked on the field carrying a No. 11 jersey. Some formed the 11 in their gym and took a photo from overhead. A police department put 11 on their hands. Federal legislators stood in front of the U.S. Capitol holding a sign of the 11 traits. The Twins and Indians played, both wearing patches and the Twins wore special red jerseys that were auctioned for the foundation. They became an unofficial logo.  The Vikings invited the family to a game. They encouraged fans to donate $11 via text. The Minnesota Wild gave a tribute and a $11,000 check. During the program, they took turns turning jerseys with each trait. A bridge in downtown Minneapolis was lit blue. The Ordway Theater displayed a lighted 11. The Guthrie Theater did, too. A couple from St. Joseph paid to have mile markers installed along a 12-mile stretch of the Lake Wobegon Trail, each displaying a trait. Kennedy Elementary retired Jacob’s number and hung it in the cafeteria. On Twitter, a woman shared a note on her windshield. Have a cup of coffee on me, #11for Jacob. It included a gift card. A man who pumped their septic tank charged $11.11. Through people who cared, a flicker of hope was always brought back to the light. Patty writes another letter. We are around the same table where he had dinner, played cards and did crafts. I had to steel myself to do whatever it would to bring you home. Sometimes she wrote on a notebook in her purse, random scrap of paper, journal, cocktail napkin or laptop. It calmed her soul and eased her heart. She recalled memories of a lemonade stand and garage sale to help Ethiopian children. They played “We Are the World,” did skits and made homemade Christmas gifts. Now everything was Before and After. A soldier in Desert Storm carried Jacob’s picture. She tells him what friends are doing. Team HOPE has 500 volunteers and reached out to more than 102,000 people. Jacob had introduced them to survivors and challenges and successes. They had planned next steps, dug deeper and pressured investigators.

 

Jared won his civil lawsuit but won’t see the $17 million.

 

Everything mattered. Every call, piece of evidence, interview, search. Patty was grateful for people who didn’t even know the family. They strengthened her resolve and she didn’t crawl into a shell. She felt like a little kid lost in the forest. Blogger Joy thanked those who told her to take the leap and the net will appear. It was hope and a prayer that carried the Wetterlings. Patty learned not to let the worst things define her. She believes in the power of good people pulling together. Jacob taught her to do good things, work to correct wrongs and fight for a world that is more caring.

 

Fave 2022 Dateline, 48 Hours, 20/20, Phrogging Tweets

 

Dateline

Sounds like these characters might have stayed at the YMCA.

I love me some hidden cameras. But I’ve never heard of one at a grave.

That man should come with a warning label.

Pictures of all tires at the funeral with 1,000 in attendance. Empty handed. I let out an uh out loud.

He drank a case of #DrPepper a day.

Ever notice how many detectives have a broadcast voice?

On a trip with her husband she writes her bf last name after hers in the sand.

This dumb broad does a murder dress rehearsal.

Every couple in America is doing the can I see you in the dark from three feet away tonight test.

Start inward. Look outward. Homicide 101.

Josh said love trapezoid.

Cameras in planter barrels.

He hired a sand sculptor to propose.

mile HIGH city alright

They locked eyes at a spinach festival.

The getaway car had to get gas.

He made $55 million and still got an NBA pension.

How on earth does he escape from a courtroom?

I happen to have an ex gf who worked in that emergency room and texted her, he said.

If I find out I’m wrong, I’d seriously consider a career change.

Because when you get the right guy, you don’t pursue the wrong one. These defense attorneys ugh.

Pharmacist has lap dancer girlfriend from some time ago. And her friend lives with them.

Of all the Datelines in all the places in all the world, I am glad this killer will never see the light of day. He would likely have gone serial and/or led a gang.

A silhouette did it.

@Dateline_keith said Bull****

Here's one for you. If you are a criminal injured by a bullet, refuse to have it removed for evidence. It happened. The police then can't match guns.

@vivbabe66 Girl, he’s this high, pointing to her neck. That was so funny.

Yes. I’m a total ratter outer.

Could Denver’s courthouse at least put the juror numbers up straight?

The jurors discussed race over wrongs.

Why on earth does she feel sorry for her rapist?

The science doesn’t lie. People do.

Who didn’t see the life insurance coming?

You don’t say no a lot.

She moved in the next day.

It was a bullet police used. Ding ding. Clue.

He might have been going after chipmunks? Might? Wouldn’t you remember that the day your wife went missing?

Bullogney on impressing someone by being an accomplice.

The dying man will take the blame. New one.

Wonder how many times “Suspicious Minds” has been played at a funeral?

Died on the day she found out he was a cheater from his cheatee. Bet she confronted his nasty self.

We have stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country.

Halloween nightmare come to life.

He threw water bottles at her.

Who puts their spouse’s remains in a storage unit?

Um. I kept my maiden name. Still here. That’s stupid to kill her over that. And I can’t see in the dark either. Not taking his side. Just saying.

Coffinlike solitude. Ate the bones and shells.

She saw the what-might-bes.

As bad as suicide is, murder may be even harder to comprehend when the victim is terminally ill.

There’s a reptile community.

Yep, guard gate video. Duh.

She knows the exact number of days from the murder to the arrest.

The kids always take up for the murdering parent. Always.

I knew he changed the computer’s time, but the dummy googled it.

Using the utility companies to monitor usage is genius.

48 Hours

Dude wrote a script and reminded himself to speak of wife in present tense.

They dance and take pictures on tombstones. Disrespectful. Sick.

Love his shirt. I’m not 40. I’m 18 with 22 years of experience.

That police interrogation door said Quite please. No lie. #Austin

There’s my college clock again.

DNA from juniper trees.

Ideal Funeral Home

4 ribs broken all the way through. Killed by massage.

Nothing screamed crime scene. But the toilet seat was UP.

He runs for sheriff to hide his own crime.

Why would six people confess who didn’t do it?

Flower and empty chair for her murdered sister at her wedding.

Digital vehicle forensics.

Byline is her vanity plate. Love.

You don’t wake up expecting to find a body in the woods.

4 girls strangled with their own clothes, shot, burned. #Austin #yogurt

#48Hours while on the topic of #Austin google the 2018 serial bomber that struck for 19 days and had 680 agents working it. They even traced IP addresses on routers.

20/20

Let me kayak out of the country.

Killed with a pie warming on the counter.

Caught in a trap. Cue the Elvis music. I can’t walk out.

DNA doesn’t just fall off. Howling at this idiot actor.

Tad looks like every man. A problem.

He is texting inspiration to himself from one phone to his other phone. #FirstAndOnly

Keep calling someone after you kill them. Duh.

#YouveGotJail

I was ready to dig out that hideous green and white shirt.

Dude kills girlfriend and goes and sees another and he is married.

Showing the Pentagon and saying it’s Sherwood Forest is fake news.

A dangerous sinner in his own flock.

Phrogging

Fruit lined up like a choo-choo train. Mustard on toilet.

Someone wrote on his calendar.

Don’t steal my toothbrush.

Lotion on door knobs and in shoes. They took insoles out of the shoes.

Stabbing the bottom of the bed.

Genius to take pic of blanket to see if it moves.

She is going to die her way, not his.

Clumps of hair in room.

She makes the bed before escaping!

Crime Con 2022 Part 2

 

Manipulation

Have you ever written someone in jail? The woman who spoke about Manipulation of the Mind at Crime Con does so for research. We manipulate and are manipulated.  Manipulation is attempting to change your mind or behavior to get you to do what I want. TV does it. Political candidates do it. For instance, a prisoner wrote her and started with Dr., then Kimberlie, then, Kim, then Kimmie, then dearest. That tries to make an emotional connection. Other common techniques are playing on insecurities. They talk you up so you want them by you. They lie then deny. They move the goalpost—lose five pounds, but 10 would be better. They use fear and threats. They are passive-aggressive, giving backhanded compliments. They use the silent treatment. They recruit others.

She said Florida is one state that pays nothing to inmates. Typically, wages range from 14 cents to $2/hour for prison maintenance labor. In Massachusetts, half of an inmate’s wages go to pay for expenses after release and in New Mexico, 15-50 percent goes to a Crime Victims Reparations Fund, discharge money and family support. Jobs can be outside the facility. In Nebraska, for instance, inmates clean the governor’s mansion. Trustees work at our Capitol. Inside prison jobs might include cooking food, washing laundry or custodial work.

The Thing About the Thing About Pam

Russ said he was not guilty to police 77 times. They did the lie detector test after he had been up 36 hours and held in an 8x10 room for 24 of them. Joel's 12-year-old son, while hearing him read aloud about the case, even said, "That lady did it." Joel called her lies Pam-isms. Here's one: I got it, but I didn't. In Missouri, it usually takes 10 to 14 years for a case to be overturned in appeal. Theirs took less than two. Joel seemed overly humble to me. I don't know if you can defame the dead, but the lesbian story should not be how Betsy is known. Pam-ism.

Exhumations

Exhumations have been done as many as six times on one body. Sometimes there may be a letter in the casket. Casket tags have to match and the toe tag from the first post-mortem. Sometimes plots are sold more than once? You must seek permission for exhumation because it is a vital record.

Forensic Entomology

There are only 30 forensic entomologists in the country. Only two are in aquatics. They study insects on dead things. Been here long? Yes, it began in the 13th century in China. A veterinarian is the most trusted expert witness today. Not even a doctor, the Crime Con presenter said. The study of lice, mites and tics can provide links to places and time. Paths of travel on cars can be studied. Better wash yours well if you committed a crime. There are stinging studies and neglect (elderly, children). Entomophobia causes car and plane wrecks. Gravesite tophonomy is a real thing.  Insects can dig six feet.  Water and plastic are barriers to the forensic studies. They are harder to study in freezing weather. There are three body farms to study the decomposition of a human corpse. He talked about dolphin poaching—arrows, gunshots, heads bashed in with gaffing hooks. He believes in maggot therapy. He said we all eat two pounds of insects a year, not knowing it. There is a hotel bedbug detector site.

Capital Punishment

Describe the death penalty in one word. This was a question a Crime Con presenter asked. He studied the 46 executions in 2010 and wrote a book. There have been 16,032 done since executions began, which was 1608. They have been bludgeoned, burned at the stake and fastened to a wagon wheel and dropped from a large height. The reasons were murder, burglary, adultery, piracy and witchcraft. In 1834, Pennsylvania got uncomfortable with the death penalty and banned public executions. There are 130 people on Death Row there now; they have executed three since 1976. The last public execution in the U.S. was in 1936 in Kentucky. 20,000 people have been known to show up for one. 27 states still have the death penalty and 23 do not. Some have a moratorium. In Alabama and Florida, a judge can overrule a 12-0 jury that convicted. Eleven people were executed last year and there are 2,474 people on death rows. California has 700 on death row and executed 13 in the last 30 years. South Carolina has reinstituted the firing squad where death is said to come in 15 seconds. Lethal injections can take 20 minutes.

Anthrax

Remember the anthrax crimes three weeks after 9/11? The investigation included looking for mysterious deaths, searching biocontainment labs, interviewing veterinarians and using bloodhounds. There was no human DNA or prints on the pre-stamped envelopes with a Trenton postmark. The ink was common. He used a bogus return address. When two postal employees died of the five killed, the criminal was upset. He was a fan of blue-collar workers, but not Tom Brokaw, the New York Post or Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahay. Seventeen people were injured. The presenter took a vaccine to protect himself from getting the disease caused by the bacteria.

From a show on TV afterwards. There was a million-dollar reward. 2,200 workers in the USPS facility were concerned.  Dogs on Capitol Hill got Cipro before they did. Postal machines were running at 35 m.p.h., possibly spewing spores. Their class action suit was dismissed.

Ryan Duke

Look for the Ryan Duke trial this week in the 2005 death of Tara Grinstead, a former Georgia beauty queen and teacher. There was nothing missing at her home and a glove was found with her DNA and the alleged killer's, Ryan Duke. The gloves had his DNA and were said to pick up dog poo, in the defendant's defense. There was apparently a scene in the bedroom where later plastic off of a lamp was found. Duke’s friend Bo Dukes is in prison for this case. This was the announcement nobody knows yet that can be proven: He did not call from a pay phone to her home.

Gen Why

Gen Why talked about a police officer named Chris Horner and whether he was murdered or committed suicide in Florida on Cemetery Road in 1998 after reporting an abandoned car. Six years later, an inmate said he did it with many others. They were bank robbers and Horner stumbled upon their car. His body radio was not working. He knew one of the men and they must have decided to kill him because of that. Some of his co-workers thought it was suicide because he was face down with a gunshot wound behind his left ear and there was no sign of a struggle.  He worked three jobs, had six kids and a wife charged with Food Stamp fraud. They had $40,000 in credit card debt. He had only been a police officer for 14 months. Thank goodness the jail dude’s aunt threatened to rat his story out if he didn’t do so himself.

Susan Powell

Red flags on the Susan Powell case. She left a note in case something happened to her, husband was known to lock her out and he didn’t work. He acted like he did by posting a Realtor ad with the wrong phone number. He googled Amanda Knox and stain removers. Her life insurance was $3.5 million. Washington lost a multimillion case for the way it handled the visitation.  The attorney said she always has a theme song for each case. This one was “Get Together” by the Youngbloods--Make the mountains ring or the angels cry. There was a “Death Lies Here” sign in thug’s shed. They have checked a mine for Susan’s body, but gas was poured down it. The kids had mentioned she was by the bushes and by the blueberries. There are 35,000 pages on the case at https://www.ksl.com/article/25263938/west-valley-city-photos-documents-relating-to-the-susan-powell-case

Paul Holes

Paul Holes said for people seeking answers in a cold case to keep showing that the family wants answers and work your way up the chain of command if you need to.

911

A 911 dispatcher with a million calls under his belt said there are seven calls to 911 in the U.S. every second. Once a week he gets a call from a drive-through from someone unhappy with his order. He said because 9 took a long time to dial on a rotary phone that the U.S. used 911 instead of 999 that Britain did.

Real Killer

In Real Killer, Rodney Lincoln was sent to prison after a murdered woman’s daughter at age 7 identified him as her mother’s killer. His conviction was reviewed as one of six out of an initial 1,400 cases in an innocence project. When the daughter was old enough to read reports and newspapers, she saw a sketch that really looked like someone else.  After 36 years, the Missouri governor commuted his sentence. Lincoln said he can’t describe the joy, but he felt it.

Long Island Killer

Dirty cop or Long Island Killer? James Burke is a former Suffolk County Police Chief who got shrouded in accusations of being involved in Long Island serial killings after rumors of his prior involvements with local sex workers came to light. Burke refused to let the FBI examine the killings. He assaulted Christopher Loeb, an admitted heroin addict who had broken into Burke’s department-issued vehicle to steal his duffle bag that Loeb claimed contained sex toys and porn. In 2016, Burke was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to depriving a person of civil rights and conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice. That same year, an escort came out to pose allegations of rough sex by him. She saw him use drugs. Between 1996 and the 2010 discovery of one set of human remains at Oak Beach in Suffolk County, 10 people fell victim to suspected homicide. Shannan Gilbert left the home of a client and was driven to Oak Beach by a driver, who later received a call from the client to take Gilbert home after she reportedly became irrational and erratic. Although multiple searches were conducted in the vicinity of where Gilbert was last seen, her body was not discovered until 18 months after she was first reported missing. More remains were discovered along Ocean Parkway. All worked as Craigslist escorts and were last seen between July 2007 and September 2010.  Several months later, the remains of another woman who worked as an escort were discovered several miles east of where the Gilgo Beach Four were found. More remains were found there. One was a female toddler, another was an Asian male in female clothing, and eventually the baby’s mother known as “Peaches” due to a bitten heart-shaped tattoo of a peach on her body. Current Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison has now at long last established a multi-agency task force that includes representatives from the FBI, New York State Police, Suffolk County District Attorney’s office and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office to reinvigorate the investigation and bring the person or persons responsible for these crimes to justice. FYI. Many of the torsos were found apart from the rest of the bodies. There is a body location map.

Undercover Agent

Bob Delaney went undercover as Bobby Covert, odd, yes, but it was a deceased person’s name at birth and he would now like to meet his family. He was a N.J. trooper who went undercover to bust the mob. He and five others opened a trucking company and an arrest record was created for him. He said it was like wearing a costume. Yes, he got scared to the point of throwing up and getting diarrhea. Some mobsters got arrested and became informants. Some told him thank you for breaking the chain. He later was a referee in kids’ basketball and then the NBA. It was therapy. He does see good in society. He defines organized crime as an ongoing conspiracy which uses fear and corruption in an attempt to make money and/or gain power within a community/society.

“Nowhere is Italian in there,” he said. He discusses PTSD back to the days of Sophocles when he wrote warriors did not know how to act. In the Civil War it was called a soldier’s heart. The WWI term was shell shocked; WWII was battle fatigue. For Korea and Vietnam, it was flashbacks. He has a book called Heroes are Human, Lessons in Resilience, Courage and Wisdom from the COVID Front Lines.

Genomics

The test kit for a target test of consensual DNA of an inferred relative in the investigation of the Golden State Killer cost $217. Six worked the DNA angle. It took 63 days. Regular police work over 43 years cost $10 million, took 650 detectives and agents over 200,000 hours. He was not a suspect before the DNA test.  DNA databases are 80 percent white.  The Wisconsin DNA Databank is responsible for receiving, verifying acceptability and processing reference DNA samples from convicted offenders and a subset of arrestees. It contains over 300,000 offender and arrestee DNA profiles.   Under California law, law enforcement is required to collect DNA samples from anyone arrested on suspicion of a felony crime. Even if the individual is never convicted or charged, the state may keep a DNA sample just based on the arrest. The color of your eyes on your license could come into play when they run an ancestry possibility study.

Reasonable Doubt

I can understand where someone may move things around so the victim's death would not look like a suicide. But not when she is tied and taped. This was in the Reasonable Doubt session. As a potential juror, you have to wonder if the lineup was suggestive (one person with a hoodie, one person with short hair and being THE suspect) and whether witnesses are visually impaired. There's something rare called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome that may have affected one case.

Interviewing

Fil Waters, a Houston detective with a 96 percent solve rate, talked about interviewing. First, investigators need to establish control and then share a little bit of themselves. “I’m a father, too.” It is about finding the right person who did the wrong thing.

Three Large Cities

A panel of homicide detectives from large cities said it takes speed, strength and smarts. One had a pic of dog poop on a person’s phone to establish their alibi. Google geofencing is the hot thing. I am awaiting a Google takeout of myself. Cases go cold because of bad crime samples, uncooperative witnesses and heavy caseloads.

Finding Justice

Funding Justice is helping solve crimes in Las Vegas. It’s like crowdfunding cold cases (philanthropy). Vegas solves 94 percent of murder cases. A Mississippi woman is funding the investigation of all unidentified remains there.

West Memphis Three and Wrongful Convictions

I watched the talk on the West Memphis Three and Wrongful Convictions (they begin with tunnel vision). They still did not convince me the owl killed that North Carolina lady.

Genetic DNA

There was a speaker from Othram and they can use one-trillionth of a gram for DNA.

Black Widower

Anyone remember the freak man on Dateline who was married six times and four of the wives died? He was acquitted of No. 2 and it was called a suicide. Not so lucky on No. 6. One had cancer and one had open heart surgery. He had kids with the first one. He wore pigtails and a Tony Romo shirt in court. He claimed to shoot an intruder when it was really somebody he set up to do it. A neighbor outside happened to be on his cell phone and the shots can be heard and timed. Freako did not call 911 for 15 minutes. Busted. Also, there were no gunshots in the ski mask when he said he shot the “intruder” in the head. I was glad to hear there is a slayer statute where the murderer is not entitled to the estate if he killed the decedent. Unfortunately, his conviction has been overturned in Nevada. Something to do with priors.

Sheryl McCollum

She once wrote a letter to J. Edgar Hoover about being an agent. He told her to stay in school, that there were not a lot of females back then.

Jeffrey Epstein

He would give a finder’s fee to the young girls who would get paid to “massage” him. This web of girls was three or four a day no matter where he was—New York, New Mexico, Florida or the island. Sea urchins were planted around that island so girls could not escape, because an attorney went there and tried to. He had moles in the FBI. It was all about control. He was the type who every day had two sprays of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter on his muffin. Not one, not three. Girls opened doors for him. He attempted suicide once before the final one and guards were arrested for not checking on him. He influenced them was the word used. All victims who wanted to got to speak at his dismissal case since his suicide allowed no trial. There were many correct judge rulings in this absurdity—no bail and this. When they were about to chicken out, the attorney got them a wig and they were allowed to come in back doors to avoid the media. It was ruled that court drawings could have no distinguishing features.

 

I didn’t watch Gil, Coursen, romance scams, Kim Goldman, detecting lies, Cats, Nancy Grace, Chris Hansen or Delphi because they are repeat guest of prior years. The serial killer one was awful. There was one about bias, but now I can’t find my notes.