Sheriff: Missing N.D. Student Found

[West Coast Democrat]

CROOKSTON, Minn. - Dru Sjodin, the University of North Dakota student who disappeared last November, has been found, authorities said Saturday.

Sheriff Mark LeTexier sobbed as he told volunteers, "Dru is home." He would not immediately elaborate, though Sjodin has been presumed dead.

Volunteers had joined the search for the 22-year-old student on Saturday.

LeTexier said he would give details later.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040417/ap_on_re_us/missing_student_search&cid=519&ncid=716

[Trajan]

1. What ? ...

Alive ? ...

[KC]

2. They

said she is 'home'

Not sure but it sure sounds like she might be alive.

KC

[LizW]

I don't think so

sounds to me like they found her body.

[mr_hat]

3. Well, there goes that October surprise.

[qanda]

4. Most poorly written story-- ever!

I'm so confused.

[KC]

7. It sure

is.

I think they are confused too...they just don't seem to know much or saying much at this point.

The more I think about them saying she is 'home' I think she is probably dead or I think they would be really happy and reporting she is alive.
I hope I'm wrong though.

KC

[Corgigal]

5. Not giving details

sounds like death notification to me. Since it's been reported her blood was found in the suspects car, I'm sure shes not with us anymore. Home probably means brought home so her family has her body at last.

I hope I'm wrong.

[West Coast Democrat]

6. Apparently they found her body

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040417/ap_on_re_us/missing_student_search&cid=519&ncid=716

The body of Dru Sjodin, the University of North Dakota student who disappeared last November, has been found, the sheriff said Saturday.

Sheriff Mark LeTexier sobbed as he told volunteers, "Dru is home." He later confirmed that authorities had found Sjodin's body.

[KC]

8. Yeah

that is so sad.
She was so young and seemed so full of life and joy in those
videos taken of her and her family and or friends.

KC

[Paradise]

9. So sad. n/t

[jdsmith]

10. Euphemism is NOT appropriate here

As much as the sheriff was trying to spare people's feelings, he had a duty to speak clearly. The confusion here indicates how upsetting his message was.

[boobooday]

11. In small communities

The Sheriff cries for a victim. :-(

Very sad. Such a cruel world!

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[rocktivity]

12. Well at least they're still not searching for a suspect

Convicted sex offender Alfonso Rodriguez...has pleaded not guilty...He...is jailed in Grand Forks on $5 million bail.

...investigators testified that blood matching Sjodin's DNA was found in Rodriguez's car. Police said they also found knife in the car that matches a sheath discovered near Sjodin's car.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Snoggera]

13. Amber alert statistics

http://www.codeamber.org/stats.html

The following statistics reflect Amber Alerts carried on the Code Amber Ticker since August, 2002. There have been several additional Amber Alerts that were resolved before the Code Amber system was activated. The alerts that are resolved quickly are the best case scenario. We would like all future Amber Alerts to end quickly with the child found safely and never have to activate the ticker again. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen anytime soon so we will be here for a while. Details of each of the Amber Alerts we have published are available on our Previous Amber Alerts page.

As of April 10, 2004:

Amber Alerts published by Code Amber: 138
Number of children involved: 161
Number of States issuing Alerts: 35
Number of Alerts resolved in a different state: 33
Percentage of Alerts resolved out of state: 24%
Number of Canadian Provinces: 1
Number of children still missing: 6
Number of children never coming home: 9
Number of female children: 96
Number of male children: 65
Number of African American children: 29
Number of Asian children: 2
Number of Caucasian children: 83
Number of Hispanic children: 46
Number of Native American children: 1

The above statistics do not include currently active Amber Alerts.

[onehandle]

14. Amber alerts have nothing to do with media coverage.

The media only plays it up when they are white, female, and/or connected to someone notable.

[Snoggera]

15. CNN story from August 2002

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/08/14/connie.missing.media/

Missing kids: Has media coverage been fair?

August 14, 2002 Posted: 5:36 PM EDT (2136 GMT)
Alexis Patterson has been missing since May.

From David Mattingly
CNN

(CNN) -- The disappearance of Elizabeth Smart in June became the story of the summer, with daily continuing coverage by most national news outlets. The case was often referred to as "every parent's nightmare."

Yet weeks before 14-year-old Elizabeth's abduction became the nightmare of the Smart family, the parents of Alexis Patterson already had faced their own nightmare. The 7-year-old Milwaukee girl vanished one morning in May after leaving for school.

The parents of Wesley Dale Morgan also had faced their own nightmare. The 2-year-old boy last seen playing with puppies a year ago in his front yard in Clinton, Louisiana.

Both those cases of missing children received substantially less national coverage than Elizabeth Smart's abduction.

more
-------------------

[SHRED]

16. Yep

When is the last time you saw a media fuss over a missing, unattractive poor person or person of color?

And you won't because sex and power(money) sells.