MN/ND: Searching for abducted UND student

[doberman]

I know this is not gun related but for those of you in the Minnesota area a 22 year old University of North Dakota student has been abducted from a mall parking lot.
Here is the story.

Keep your eyes out and lets hope she is returned safely.



http://www.kstp.com/article/view/124718/

Authorities to expand search for University of North Dakota student Watch video
Updated: 11-25-2003 07:45:56 AM


By DAVE KOLPACK
Associated Press Writer

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - Ground and aerial searches have failed to turn up any sign of a missing University of North Dakota student, but authorities, family and friends remained hopeful.

"You don't know where she might be at. You just hope for the best, but every minute is very precious," said Grand Forks Police Lt. Byron Sieber.

Authorities used planes, all-terrain vehicles, horses and dogs to search fields near Grand Forks for Dru Sjodin, who disappeared after a weekend cell phone call to her boyfriend was abruptly cut off.

Sjodin, 22, of Pequot Lakes, Minn., was last seen late Saturday afternoon, as she was leaving the Grand Forks store where she worked.

At UND, a sign hanging from one of the sorority houses urged, "Pray for Dru." A prayer vigil was held Monday night, and officials said counseling would be offered to students.

Police planned to expand the search Tuesday, and asked for volunteer help. They also asked area landowners to check their property.

"We're going to search every inch of the ditches," Sieber said.

Sjodin's mother, Linda Walker, said her daughter was talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone about 5 p.m. Saturday when she said "Oh, my God," and then the phone went dead.

Police traced another call from Sjodin's cell phone about three hours later to an area around Fisher's Landing, a rest stop along U.S. 2, about six miles east of Grand Forks. Authorities set up a command center at a Fisher, Minn., church to coordinate the search for Sjodin.

Three Border Patrol helicopters were joined in the search Monday by UND airplanes. About 60 law enforcement personnel searched on foot and in all-terrain vehicles, joined by a volunteer posse from Crookston, Minn., on horseback.

Authorities said Sjodin's roommate notified police at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, after Sjodin failed to show up for a 9 p.m. shift at her second job at a lounge.

Walker said her daughter, a senior graphic arts major at UND and a high school honors student, knows no one from the Fisher area and would have no reason to be there.

Her family is offering a $20,000 reward.

Adam Schutz, 23, a UND student who had dated Sjodin, was among the students planning to join the search party Tuesday.

"She just wouldn't take off without letting anybody know," Schutz said.

"She's a great person. I don't know why anyone would want to do anything to hurt her. This is very difficult," he said, his voice shaking.

Police said Sjodin's car was found in the parking lot at the mall where she worked. Lt. Dennis Eggebraaten said a package that Sjodin apparently bought at the mall was inside.

"There was no sign of a struggle that we could determine," he said.

Still, police said they continue to treat the case as a possible abduction. Sjodin's father, Allan, of Minneapolis, issued a statement pleading with whoever may have taken his daughter to "please let her go.

"We're just in total shock about this," he said. "We want her found. We want her home for Thanksgiving. She's a fantastic young lady."

Eggebraaten said police questioned workers at the Victoria's Secret store at the mall, where Dru Sjodin worked, about harassing calls but found only one from a man who asked for her. She did not take the call, Eggebraaten said. A Victoria's Secret manager declined comment.

Police described Sjodin as about 5-foot-5, 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.

UND President Charles Kupchella issued a statement saying the school is doing what it can to help with the investigation and is providing housing to the Sjodin family, as well as counseling to students.

"When it comes to something like this, people in this area really rally around each other," Sieber said. "Every available person is working on this." ---

Grand Forks police: 701-787-8000. Tip line: 701-780-8213.

 

[Kharn]

The abductee's picture.

Kharn

 

[Country Boy]

Grand Forks Herald - Posted on Tue, Nov. 25, 2003

MISSING WOMAN: Police call on public to help in search
Buses will begin leaving at 8 a.m. today from Ralph Engelstad Arena
By David Dodds
Herald Staff Writer

Authorities are calling on civilian volunteers to help search for 22-year-old UND student Dru Sjodin, who police believe was abducted Saturday from a Columbia Mall parking lot in Grand Forks.

Individuals or groups interested in helping are asked to meet at 7:30 a.m. today in the new Ralph Engelstad Arena. From there, buses will transport searchers to Fishers Landing, Minn, the primary search area.

Police say an 8 p.m. Saturday call was transmitted from a cellular phone tower near Fishers Landing, about 10 miles east of Grand Forks, and that that call was traced to Sjodin's cell phone Saturday night.

It was the last link to Sjodin that friends and family reported after she had left the mall about 5 p.m. Saturday.

Buses will leave today from Engelstad Arena to the search area every hour beginning at 8 a.m. The buses will return to the arena every half-hour, said Grand Forks Police Sgt. Mike Hedlund.

Hedlund said that volunteer searchers must be prepared to give up a form of identification to authorities before they can be involved in the search.

"We need to know who we are working with for the search," Hedlund said. "(The volunteers) will then be issued a search badge, which will identify them as a member of the search."

Grand Forks Police Lt. Dennis Eggebraaten said that authorities will keep each person's identification card until that person is finished searching and is ready to head back to Grand Forks.

Searching in teams

Search teams will be divided into groups of 10, and law enforcement officials will designate teams leaders.

Polk County Sheriff Mark LeTexier also is requesting that landowners within three to five miles of Fishers Landing check their properties for signs of Sjodin. Shelterbelts, Quonsets and farmyards are all areas that should be inspected.

The search, which commenced Sunday morning and continued into Monday, will focus on areas north and south of U.S. Highway 2 near Fishers Landing. Federal, state and local authorities from North Dakota, using ground and air assets, did the initial searches.

Hedlund said an Altru ambulance will be on site today in case of emergencies, and the Grand Forks Police Department will provide chaplain services for anyone who wishes to use them.

Sjodin, originally from Pequot Lakes, Minn., is about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 130 pounds, with blue eyes and blond hair. She last was seen wearing a pink shirt, black pants, black blazer, black shoes and a black pea coat.

Amanda Anderson, UND student body vice president, said that a number of UND Greek and student organizations, including members of Gamma Phi Beta, in which Sjodin was a member, have expressed interest in joining the search for her.

"A lot of random students are saying that they want to help out, too," Anderson said.

UND President Charles Kupchella said that his school's crisis team has been working since the weekend to provide support for Sjodin's family and friends.

The crisis team, made up of school vice presidents, staff and faculty, meets frequently throughout the year, according to officials. Another memorable period when the team convened was Sept. 11, 2001, to map out a plan to help students cope with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

"Our hearts go out to Dru's family, and we are doing what we can to be helpful to them," Kupchella said. "We are providing the family with housing as well as access to UND personnel and resources."

Prayer vigil

A prayer vigil for Sjodin was held Monday night at Christus Rex Lutheran Church on campus, at which school counselors were available. Counseling services also will be available today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Governor's Room of the Memorial Union.

The school's Counseling Center can be reached at 777-2127. For additional assistance, students also can contact the dean of students at 777-2664.

UND Provost John Ettling called on UND faculty, staff and administrators to consider the stresses that some students might be under this week as a result of the apparent abduction.

"As the holiday season and the end of the semester approaches," Ettling said, "our students often find this to be a stressful time. The recent news reports about a missing student increase those feelings of anxiety."

 

[Country Boy]

Grand Forks Herald - Posted on Tue, Nov. 25, 2003

Tracking a signal
Hundreds expected to join Sjodin search
By Stephen J. Lee and Lisa Davis
Herald Staff Writers

FISHER, Minn. - The cell phone that carried Dru Sjodin's voice just before she vanished Saturday evening was the focus Monday of the intensive search for the UND student.

Today, hundreds of volunteers are expected to help look for the 22-year-old senior who family and police fear was abducted Saturday from the Columbia Mall parking lot.

In the midst of a cell phone call to her boyfriend in the Twin Cities about 5 p.m. Saturday, she exclaimed, "Oh my God" or "Oh no," police said. The call then disconnected.

Using information from the Sprint telephone company, law enforcement officials focused the search around a Fisher cell phone tower that logged the phone's signal for 24 hours after Sjodin disappeared.

Sjodin's friends from her hometown of Pequot Lakes, Minn., gathered in the Fisher Cafe and Community Center on Monday.

"We got here around 5:15 a.m. and just drove around for a while," said Adam Ruud. "We checked out the tower sites and just looked around."

He and his friends met Dru's father, Allan Sjodin, for breakfast in Grand Forks and spent the day searching and waiting for news.

Ruud was unwavering in his commitment to find his friend.

"We'll be here," he said. "We just want to bring her home."

About 60 federal, state and local law enforcement officials searched here all day Monday. They will resume at daylight today, bolstered by hundreds of volunteers expected to join the search.

Signal clue

Investigators don't think Sjodin necessarily is near Fisher, said Grand Forks Police Sgt. Michael Hedlund.

But her cell phone gave off a signal locating it within about five miles of the tower near Fisher from about 8 p.m. Saturday until the signal faded away 24 hours later, he said.

"It could have been someone driving down the road and throwing the cell phone out the car window," Hedlund said. "We don't know she has been there - we know the cell phone has been there."

Sjodin left work at Victoria's Secret in Columbia Mall at 4 p.m. Saturday; she spent nearly an hour shopping in the mall, finishing in Marshall Fields about 5 p.m., Hedlund said. While in that store, Sjodin began a 10-minute cell-phone conversation with her boyfriend, who lives in the Twin Cities area. While talking to him, she walked out of the mall and to her car. The conversation ended abruptly, the boyfriend told police, when Sjodin exclaimed, "Oh my God" or "Oh no," and the call disconnected.

That was about 5 p.m. Saturday. Police think those words, uttered in or near her car, signaled her abduction. Forensic tests of evidence gathered from the car were not complete Monday, he said.

Shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday, the boyfriend called Sjodin's roommate in the student apartment she shared on UND's campus to express concern about her welfare.

About 7:40 p.m. Saturday, Sjodin's boyfriend received another call from her cell phone, but there was no voice on the other end, and the call quickly was disconnected. That call came, according to Sprint telephone officials, from within a three- to four-mile radius of the tower near Fisher, Grand Forks Police Lt. Dennis Eggebraaten said.

Meanwhile, when Sjodin's UND roommate learned that the always-reliable Sjodin did not show up for her 9 p.m. shift at the El Roco, the roommate knew something was wrong and called UND Police to report her missing.

Late Saturday night, UND Police sent out an all-points bulletin to law enforcement agencies in the region, Eggebraaten said. By early Sunday, Grand Forks Police got involved. Sjodin's car, a 1986 Olds Cutlass Supreme, was found in the parking lot outside the north entrance to J.C. Penney. It isn't known if that's where Sjodin parked it before work, Eggebraaten said.

No witnesses to her apparent abduction have come forward, but police have received more than 30 calls offering information or leads, Hedlund said.

At least one item known to have been purchased by Sjodin at Marshall Fields was missing from the car, he said, but he wouldn't elaborate. No blood was found in the car, but other evidence in the car indicated she may have been abducted, Eggebraaten said.

Her cell phone's signal indicated it was near Fisher, but the signal was lost about 8 p.m. Sunday, Eggebraaten said.

That's where about 60 federal, state and local officers focused their search Monday.

By ground and air

The intensive hunt began Monday morning from the air with UND planes and three Border Patrol helicopters and moved quickly to a ground search, which included a seven- or eight-mile radius around Fishers Landing.

An officer on foot and a member of the Polk County Posse walked a bloodhound near the water and woods at Fishers Landing, about 10 miles east of East Grand Forks, at the beginning of the search. When no trail was found, the officer moved to Ross Seed, a mile or two east of Fishers Landing, where a continuous line of police vehicles pulled in and began organizing a search.

Where cars couldn't maneuver, ATVs took over, with drivers in blaze orange vests running the vehicles up and down ditches along U.S. Highway 2 and along farm fields.

"We're gonna go find this girl," said Trent Stahlecker of the Polk County Sheriff's Office as he climbed into his car.

Searchers worked individually and in groups and used radios and cell phones to communicate with the command center and each other.

Stahlecker and those searching with him southwest of Fisher drove slowly, tires crunching on the gravel road.

A bright pink object in the field caught searchers' attention.

"It's an inner tube," Stahlecker said, waving off fellow searchers.

Nothing linked to Sjodin was found Monday, said Polk County Sheriff Mark LeTexier, who led the search.

No suspects have been identified, but a man "with a foreign accent" had made at least one harassing phone call to Victoria's Secret, asking about Sjodin in the past two weeks, Lt. Eggebraaten said.

The type of foreign accent was not specified, he said.

Police believe Sjodin's boyfriend was in the Twin Cities area Saturday night when she disappeared, Hedlund said. Grand Forks Police investigators talked to him several times via telephone, and agents of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension planned to visit him Monday, Hedlund said.

Honor student

Sjodin graduated in 2000 from a Pequot Lakes area high school, where she was homecoming queen and an honor student.

She is described as about 5-foot-5, 130 pounds, with frosted blond hair and blue eyes. Police said she was wearing black slacks, black loafers, a pink and purple V-neck blouse, a black blazer-style jacket and black pea coat, carrying a small black handbag.

UND reacts

UND President Charles Kupchella issued a statement saying the school is doing what it can to help with the investigation and is providing housing to the Sjodin family, as well as counseling to students.

Members of Sjodin's sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, planned to join the search today.

Sjodin's mother, Linda Walker, said Dru planned to graduate next year in graphic arts. Her daughter does not know anyone from the Fisher area, Walker said.

Adam Schutz, 23, a UND student who told The Associated Press he had dated Sjodin about three years, planned to search today.

"She just wouldn't take off without letting anybody know," Schutz said. "She's a great person. I don't know why anyone would want to do anything to hurt her. This is very difficult."

David Sutfin, Sjodin's uncle, said an unnamed "private benefactor," added $20,000 to the $20,000 reward the family already had offered for information leading to her safe return.

He said family and friends and especially Sjodin's parents, Linda Walker and Allan Sjodin, appreciate the concern of those searching for their daughter.

"We are asking everyone to work very closely with the Grand Forks Police Department," Sutfin said. "And make sure if they have any information about Dru, her whereabouts, or any information about the mall incident, where she was abducted, no matter how small or slight they might think it is, that they might contact the police," Sutfin said.

Sutfin lives in Virginia but came to Minnesota the past weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with Sjodin's family, and now is spending time in Grand Forks searching for her and acting as a spokesman for the family.

"The family was getting together for the first time in 30 years, and this happened," Sutfin said. "Everyone is just coming together to help Allan and Linda."

Allan Sjodin declined to answer questions at a news conference Monday at the Grand Forks Police Department. He made a short, quiet statement, though, pleading with whoever took his daughter "to come forward."

"Please release her," he said. "We want her home for Thanksgiving."

 

[F4GIB]

FWIW, the University of Minnesota at Duluth prohibits guns on its campus.

This is a good example of why a cell phone is not an adequate substitute for a concealed firearm. Sometimes you can't dial 911. And most of the time the police aren't there at your side when bad things happen.

 

[repsychler]

F4GIB, It's UND, not UMD. Although they probably ban guns too.

This is the second tragic incident to happen to people from Pequot Lakes recently. (Dru was kidnapped from the Grand Forks area but was from Pequot Lakes) A lady from PL was kidnapped and later found dead about 3 years ago. I actually knew her because she was my driver's ed instructor way back when. Hopefully Dru is found unharmed.

To make a vague stab at a gun related topic, Pequot Lakes has the best gun shop I've found in the state of Minnesota. Too bad I live 120 miles away from it.

 

[F4GIB]

This should be a lesson to all of those who think a cell phone PROTECTS you from harm. At best it can be used to summon help which will arrive AFTER the crime is complete.

 

[Alex]

I live here in Grand Forks and one thing that is interesting is that you cannot find a can of pepper spray anywhere in this town anymore, all the stores that have sold it are sold out. UND prohibits firearms on campus, I believe, though do not know for sure, that they also have policys against pepper spray and stun guns as well. With all that is happening in the world today you would think that they would wake up to the situation and realize that the right to self defense shouldn't be suspended while you pursue an education. I truly hope she is found safe.