An update of sorts on the Dru Sjodin case...

[PZelda]

Well, it's not really much of one...But at this point, it's been nearly four months since Dru disappeared, so I sadly don't have much hope anymore that they'll find her alive...


From http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4643291.html

Family continues search for Dru Sjodin; suspect's court appearance opened to live TV coverage
Dave Kolpack, Associated Press

Published March 3, 2004
Last updated: March 4, 2004 at 6:36 AM DRU04

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- All through the North Dakota winter, a small group of relatives and a couple of bloodhounds have pushed through snowbanks and battled wind-chills of 20 below, looking for traces of college student Dru Sjodin.

Signs of spring are giving them new hope.

The 22-year-old University of North Dakota student was last seen Nov. 22. She disappeared from the parking lot outside a Grand Forks mall after leaving her job at a Victoria's Secret.

Police have said Sjodin is probably dead. Her blood was found in the car of convicted rapist Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., who is charged with kidnapping her, and a knife in the car's trunk matched a sheath found near Sjodin's car, left in the parking lot.

Sjodin's relatives and friends have kept up the search for her body - recently using air compressors to force air through holes in an icy river, hoping it would help the dogs pick up a scent.

Her boyfriend, Chris Lang, has dropped knee-deep in snow while searching through ditches, and once fell through a thin layer of ice into freezing water.

``We've just got to keep looking,'' he said. ``There's no giving up.''

Rodriguez, 51, faces a preliminary hearing Friday in Grand Forks. He has denied any involvement in Sjodin's disappearance.

Bob Heales, a family friend and private investigator, said family members hope the hearing will offer some clues to Sjodin's disappearance, although investigators are not expecting help from Rodriguez.

``I haven't heard anybody indicate that they think anything will come out of the hearing,'' said Grand Forks Sgt. Michael Hedlund.

There have been no organized law enforcement searches since mid-December, but as the spring thaw approaches, police are likely to get more involved, Hedlund said.

``Someone said it's kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack - only right now the haystack is covered with snow,'' Hedlund said.

Lang was the last person known to have heard from Sjodin, when the young woman from Pequot Lakes, Minn., spoke to him by cell phone after leaving her job. He has been searching along with Sjodin's parents, Linda Walker and Allan Sjodin.

Last week, as the temperature climbed to 40 degrees, the small search party looked through fields and abandoned buildings near Rodriguez's hometown of Crookston, Minn.

``Compared to when it was 20 below, this is great,'' said Heales, who has been leading the daily searches. ``It's ideal for the dogs, and it's ideal for humans.''

One of the bloodhounds, Calamity Jane, has shown interest in a spot near the Red Lake River, where police said they found one of Sjodin's shoes three days after her disappearance. Last week, searchers began using compressors to force air through holes in the ice.

Heales said that searchers found something that they turned over to Grand Forks police, but he declined to say what it was. ``I don't necessarily think it's anything, but it's something you just can't pass up,'' he said.

Earlier searches by volunteers and law enforcement agencies - including the North Dakota and Minnesota National Guard - in the Grand Forks area and parts of Minnesota came up empty. Divers and underwater cameras were used in the Red Lake River.

``As thoroughly as the river has been searched, nothing is 100 percent,'' Heales said. ``The water is murky and there are some downed trees in the river that make some areas difficult to get to.''

[dawsongirl]

I hope they do find her body and that guy gets hanged by his balls.

[Nanny Fine]

I think she probably never made it through that first night. I with they could find her so that her family can have some closure. Why Rodriguez continues to deny involvement when forensic evidence TIES him to Dru just is something I can't comprehend. Why can't they MAKE him talk? I hope he rots in hell.

[PZelda]

Originally posted by Nanny Fine
I think she probably never made it through that first night. I with they could find her so that her family can have some closure. Why Rodriguez continues to deny involvement when forensic evidence TIES him to Dru just is something I can't comprehend. Why can't they MAKE him talk? I hope he rots in hell.

Amen! That was exactly what I was thinking, as well.

[Ewan's My Man]

I still have hope. I mean, I'm realistic, I know it's highly unlikely that she's still alive, but come on, gotta have a little faith...

[EricIdlefan]

It's unlikely she will be found alive but everybody has to have and put faith in their justice system though flawed and/or unperfect!! It would be wonderful though to have a very, very, and rare happy ending like Elizabeth Smart!!