Suspect in North Dakota student abduction has been arrested

[SmileyBoy]

I just saw the breaking report on WDAY news in Fargo (pre-empted Monday Night Football), I'll try to get an article posted as soon as possible.

The jist of the story is this:

A Crookston, Minnesota man, Alfonso Rodriguez, 50, has been arrested in connection with the abduction of 22-year old Dru Sjodin, a college student at the University of North Dakota. He has a long criminal background, including aggrivated assault, aggrivated rape and kidnapping. Sjodin was reportedly abducted in the parking lot of the Columbia Mall in Grand Forks on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 22. (Note: This is my original writing)

Edit for futher breaking events: Rodriguez was arrested by the Grand Forks police and charged with kidnapping. The whereabouts of Sjodin are currently not known.

[hlthe2b]

1. Oh, God... Please let her be ok..............

This kind of thing is just so disturbing..........

[flamingyouth]

2. Such a scary story

I hope she's OK, but I fear that she's not, somehow. This guy just seems way too frightening for this to end up well.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

3. heard a piece about this on NPR

It was an interesting interview-
Dru was a sorority girl at the college there.
--NPR interviewed a girl who said she was one of many volunteers combing the snow for clues for 2 days straight.

A sad story, esp. for a somewhat 'safe" town in N.Dakota.
Hope they find Dru alive.
People haven't given up hope in the town there.

[dflprincess]

4. Any news on Dru?

n/t

[Don_G]

5. No News Yet On Dru

Press conference scheduled for tomorrow: http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4243256.html

[IndianaGreen]

6. CNN: Arrest made in college student's disappearance

Arrest made in college student's disappearance
Minnesota man in custody
Monday, December 1, 2003 Posted: 9:59 PM EST (0259 GMT)

CNN) -- An arrest has been made in connection with the disappearance of a 22-year-old college student, police in Grand Forks, North Dakota, said Monday evening.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, of Crookston, Minnesota, was taken into custody in Crookston at 7:20 p.m. (8:20 p.m. EST), shortly after the state's attorney's office in Grand Forks issued an arrest warrant for him on a kidnapping charge. He is being held at a jail in Crookston, about 25 miles southeast of Grand Forks, where University of North Dakota senior Dru Sjodin went missing November 22.

The search for Sjodin is still in progress, police said.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Central/12/01/missing.student/index.html

[SmileyBoy]

7. Thanx for the article.

I'm just too lazy to find it.;-)

[IndianaGreen]

8. Keep us posted

The press conference is tomorrow.

[Scurrilous]

9. Link to:

http://www.finddru.com/

[sleipnir]

10. I hate to say it, but I think she's probably dead.... :(

It's really the only scenario that makes sense. Why would they not announce her rescue after her kidnapper was arrested? Why would they announce that he had been ARRESTED if she wasn't found or her whearabouts known? The only real (and very sad) answer is that she is most likely dead. If there were other suspects and she were still alive, there's no WAY the police would release this info to the press, it would tip off the rest of the accomplises and threaten her life. I hate to point it out, but if they haven't told the families, I'm sure they have now. Damn, I was hoping they would find her alive (they still might, it could be a clever move by the police to root out more suspects/information, but higly unlikely)

Damn.... :(

[SmileyBoy]

12. The sad thing is that she probably is.

I really don't see how she would be alive. I'm sure they'll find her really soon, but they won't be finding a live person. The bastard probably raped and killed her.:-(

[northernsoul]

16. they're probably trying to get him to tell where she is

and what condition she's in.
If he's not saying anything, it doesn't bode well because he probably knows they can't charge murder if they can't find a body. If she's alive, it would be in his best interests to cooperate.
(all of this is assuming that the suspect is indeed culpable, as I think he is)

I don't know why we ever release these sexual psychopaths, seems like they never get "cured". I'd rather have a former mob hit man living next door to me than a Level 3 Sex Offender.

[toopers]

19. You can be charged with murder without a dead body.

It has happened before. I will try and find the case file and post it.

[demdave]

21. Here are some cases convicted without the body.

New York vs. Sante and Kenneth Kimes
The Victim — Irene Silverman, who disappeared in June 1998
Verdict— Both were convicted in May of murder, forgery, conspiracy, and grand larceny, among other charges and sentenced to at least 120 years in prison.


Delaware vs. Thomas Capano
The Victim — Anne Marie Fahey, Capano’s mistress, who disappeared in 1996.
Verdict — Capano was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death


Ohio vs. Vincent Doan
The Victim — Carrie Culberson, Doan’s girlfriend, who vanished in August 1996
Verdict — Doan was convicted of aggravated murder and kidnapping and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1997.

Oregon vs. Joel Abbott
The Victim — Carolann Payne, Abbott’s girlfriend, who disappeared in 1985
Verdict — Abbott was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison

http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/missingbody000911.html

[SmileyBoy]

11. Correction: He was arrested by Crookston police.

I mis-read the alert as Grand Forks police.

[incontrovertible]

13. A message for women everywhere.

NEVER be taken. Make them leave you dead in a parking lot first. The "don't resist and you'll be okay" fantasy is incontrovertible bullshit that has doubtlessly gotten thousands of women killed.

They don't want a dead body. They want a live female body, until they're done with "it." They also aren't likely to open fire in a parking lot, getting everybody looking at them and jotting down a license plate.

Run. Like hell. Scream.

For that matter, carry a gun.

[LosinIt]

14. Bad Advice. Carry a gun ONLY if you are willing to use it

Otherwise it could be used against you. Better idea to carry mace, or learn how to whistle realllllllly loud (which is my planned defense).

[NickB79]

23. That makes no sense

If you carry a gun and he uses it against you to shoot you, that is somehow worse than being abducted, raped and killed?

[truthisfreedom]

15. i hope for the best too, but because a second woman was abducted 45

miles away from the first one(she escaped), a couple of days later, it seems like the abductor might be a serial killer. really sad that this is a local thing. wisconsin has had it's share of serial killers, and now it seems that minnesota may have a couple too. sigh. i sure hope she's still alive.

[northernsoul]

17. Lots of scary disappearances in northern MN

Some of the most beautiful country on earth up there, but there's some weird stuff going on there as well lately. Sparse population and lots of tamarack bogs to hide bodies in probably creates a lot of opportunities for a few psychos.

[grannylib]

18. The arrest was all over the Twin Cities papers this morning, both the

Strib (Star Tribune) and Pioneer Press...
Praying for a good outcome on this one but I am not hopeful, I fear...

[Skittles]

20. a history of abducting women

what the f*** is this guy doing on the streets

[demdave]

22. He served his time.

Rodriguez, who is listed as a predatory offender by the Minnesota Department of Corrections, was released from prison on May 1 after serving time for charges that include rape, aggravated assault and kidnapping.

It does not say how long of a sentence he served, but notes that he is no longer under supervision.

[Skittles]

25. the guy stabbed the woman when she resisted

he's a known predator. He should have been jailed for life.

[twistedliberal]

24. Very sad situation

I live in Grand Forks and work in Crookston, and know Rodriguez' sister and have friends who know Dru. We all huddled around the only TV at work today to watch the press conference.

The family remains so upbeat and determined. I can't imagine what they are going through.