Mainstreet Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports that searchers found the body of Dru Sjodin in a ditch northwest of Crookston on Saturday, April 17th. The 22-year-old University of North Dakota Student had been missing since November 2003. Police believe she was taken from a Grand Forks mall parking lot by a convicted sex offender.
DAN GUNDERSON: A somber group of volunteers and law enforcement officers joined reporters for a late afternoon briefing at the Crookston High School. Searchers had gathered at the high school Saturday morning, for what turned out to be the final search for Dru Sjodin. Polk County Sheriff Mark LeTexier says her body was found minutes after about 200 searchers were deployed.
MARK LETEXIER: Shortly after 10:00 AM today, a retired Polk County Sheriff's deputy and a Crookston police reservist discovered the body of a female, believed to be that of Dru Sjodin.
DAN GUNDERSON: The area had been searched several times, but deep snow drifts in the ditch apparently melted recently and revealed the body. Sheriff LeTexier declined to comment on any details of the investigation. He says the body will be positively identified by the Ramsey County Medical examiner's office in Saint Paul. LeTexier praised the spirit of volunteers who helped with several large scale searches in the five months Dru was missing.
MARK LETEXIER: Sincere thanks for all of the volunteers who are here now, and for those that I'm addressing if you're watching and hearing this, thank you very much for helping us so that today we could bring Dru home.
DAN GUNDERSON: Dru's father, Allan Sjodin, says when the call came, his family stopped living for a second.
ALLAN SJODIN: It's been five months of real insanity for us as a family.
DAN GUNDERSON: Allan Sjodin says his family has received amazing support throughout the five-month ordeal.
ALLAN SJODIN: I want to thank everyone in law enforcement. And then I can go on to all of the people that have had prayer chains, sent us thank yous, and condolences, and volunteered so much of their time to keep our spirits up and our shoulders back.
DAN GUNDERSON: Allan Sjodin says his family now needs some time to think about the next stage of their lives. Convicted sex offender Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping Dru Sjodin. Rodriguez is being held at the Grand Forks County Jail. US attorney Tom Heffelfinger of Minnesota, and his North Dakota counterpart, Drew Wrigley, attended the press briefing. Heffelfinger says it's too soon to discuss whether Rodriguez might face federal charges.
TOM HEFFELFINGER: Now is the time for us, rather to let law enforcement and the medical examiners do their work, and for us to extend our prayers and our sympathies to the family of Dru Sjodin.
DAN GUNDERSON: Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty issued a statement saying, quote, "We hoped for the best, but it was not to be." Sjodin's disappearance prompted the governor to call for reinstatement of the death penalty in Minnesota, and sparked a debate about sex offenders that continues at the State legislature. Dan Gunderson, Minnesota Public Radio, Crookston.
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