Missing Dru, Five Months of Searching
By Bob
Heales
I still remember the
news that night. I had flown into my
hometown of
I have a home in
Crosslake, just a few miles from
I remembered the
night I met her along with some of her friends.
I kept thinking of Dru’s beautiful smile and
how friendly she was. We had played a dice game called
The first missing
person case I remember following closely was Beth Miller in
I never felt like I
could help make a difference in any of these other cases. But this was different, this was Dru. Dru was from my town and I knew the people in this town and
her friends were afraid and were hurting.
I knew I would head to
When I arrived in
There had been a
large volunteer search that day, but the news reports were now saying that
Wednesday would be law enforcement searches only. Dru’s friends would
have none of that and arrangements had been made to meet at the church in
Fisher,
Wednesday morning we
waited for about 90 minutes outside the church while law enforcement was having
their briefing. An inch or so of snow had created some drifts in low areas. Patience wore thin with Dru’s
young friends. They wanted to be
searching, not waiting around for someone to tell them what to do or what not
to do.
Eli Loven was a close friend of Dru’s
and had been searching for a couple days by now, along with a couple dozen of Dru’s friends. Eli
took charge and directed the group where to search. Everyone worked hard, but by the end of the
day it struck me that things were a little disorganized and I thought this
group could be put to better use in the search along with law enforcement. It isn’t always easy to get the cooperation
of law enforcement and quite often they would prefer that friends and family
members wait back at the command center or another location for any news. They also understand that in many cases
people aren’t going to just sit around and that was certainly the case
here. I was acquainted with Russ Hons, a fellow private investigator in
I called Russ and he
immediately offered to take me around and introduce me to people in the law
enforcement community. Our first stop
was at the command center in Fisher. I
met many of the officials involved in conducting the search. It was suggested we try to meet with Major
Mike Fonder of the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Department who was coordinating
the overall search. We drove to the
Sheriff’s Department where Russ was able to arrange a meeting with a very busy
Major Fonder.
Major Fonder, Russ and
I discussed the situation about the family members and friends. Although the preference was for the searching
to be left up to law enforcement, Major Fonder also recognized that it was
unrealistic to expect Dru’s family and friends to
simply wait around drinking hot chocolate while waiting for any news. We went
over some maps and it was agreed that we would be assigned an area on a daily
basis providing I would keep track of specific areas covered, contact law
enforcement with any findings, protect any possible evidence, and report
nightly to Major Fonder with an update.
Thursday morning was
Thanksgiving, my second day of searching and my first day of being responsible
for our “family and friends” search group.
We began meeting daily at the Walmart parking
lot at
After I met with Major
Fonder on Friday evening I was told we would have a deputy assigned to work
with our team each day. Over the next couple
weeks we primarily worked with Sgt. Ron Gibbens and
on a few days with Deputy Mark Frovarp. These men were true professionals who helped
us get through each long day. They truly
cared and suffered with us as they saw the pain in the faces of Dru’s family and friends and how hard we were all working
to find Dru or the smallest piece of evidence that
might lead us to her. They both admitted
they didn’t know how we could do it and the occasional wetness in their eyes
when they saw us struggling with our emotions told me they were “part of the
family”.
For days every day
was the same. I would work well into the
night mapping out search areas and making copies. We would meet at Walmart,
I would instruct the new volunteers, and we would cover as much ground as we
could as thoroughly as we could. Most
every day we would find something we needed to have the police investigators come
out and look at and collect, a cell phone part, an article of clothing or
something else we didn’t feel could be overlooked.
The media had been
with us for a few days. I had been in
touch with the Polly Klass Foundation and the
I wasn’t sure what to
say when I met Allan except that “we’re going to find Dru”. For the next several months I tried to
support Allan as much as possible, but I know there were certainly days and
nights that he supported and lifted me.
We forged a strong friendship over the next few months, but little did
we know at that time what our future held.
I admire and respect Allan and am proud to have him as a friend. If only we could have met in another way.
On Wednesday December
3rd about 1,700 volunteers showed up for a large scale search. The family and friends group was assigned our
own area by Major Fonder. We worked in a
prime focus area along County Road 7 a few miles south of the Columbia
Mall. I know it was a message to us that
we were doing a good job and we had the trust of law enforcement to be the ones
handling one of the most important areas. By now many of us had strong feelings
about the route from the Columbia Mall to Crookston, especially since the
suspect arrested on December 1st lived in Crookston.
As information came
to us about the suspect and evidence found it was like being punched in the
face. Things were happening that were
discouraging to those of us out in the field.
As hard as we tried to keep our hope up, too much time had been passing
by. On December 4th we moved
to the
We took Sunday
December 7th off. We were
physically and emotionally exhausted. A
smaller family and friends group continued searching from December 8th
through the 14th. The
National Guard searched December 12th to 14th. By now many of Dru’s
family members and friends had to reluctantly return to work and school. This would be our last searching until January.
On Monday December 16th
Troy Cable, a friend from Crosslake, and I came up with the idea to hold a
benefit and auction in Crosslake. We
knew how involved the local community wanted to be, but most weren’t able to
spend a great deal of time in
We raised about
$50,000 at this benefit which added money to the Dru Sjodin Fund to help with search expenses for family and
friends. This would be the first of several benefits and as the fund eventually
grew we knew it would be put to good use now and by helping others in the
future.
On
By now a song had
been recorded by Mike Tuckner and I would play the CD
over and over on my trips to and from
With Denny Adams and
Bloodhound Calamity Jane assisting as well as Nolan Baldwin and his Bloodhound Jethro, we began searches south and east of Crookston
toward Macintosh on January 22nd through 24th. At the same time Dru’s
picture was put up on billboards in
On February 4th
we began searching with a smaller group.
It was often Dru’s dad, Uncle Lowell,
boyfriend Chris and a few of her cousins and other friends. We started to concentrate on the area near
the bridge on the
We continued our
periodic small scale searches concentrating in Crookston for the most part on
and near the river. Calamity Jane
continued to show interest on several occasions near that building and on an
area of the
We were sometimes
asked by media if we thought Dru was still
alive. I explained that we always kept
hope that something happened that we don’t understand and that we wanted to get
a phone call from Dru, maybe from some truck stop in
a warm place,
On February 12th
I attended a memorial service for 11 year old Carlie Brucia in
On April 3rd,
we began planning along with Sgt. Keller for the large scale search that was to
be conducted around Crookston on April 17th. We met with volunteer members of the
Minnesota Search and Rescue Association to scout out some areas along with
Chief Tim Motherway from the Crookston Police
Department who joined us to search on his day off. Later that day Sgt. Keller took us to a
ravine that ran north and south of County Road 61 and was one mile west of Highway
75. One group walked along the rim to
the south while Allan and I walked to the north. Chris and Denny later came up behind us and
Lowell and Dru’s cousin were on the other side of the
ravine. The weather was nice by now, but
Allan and I commented on how there were some drifts yet and we needed to come back
to this spot in a week or two.
On April 6th
while I was out of town, Allan, Denny and Officer Rusty Miller from the
Crookston Police Department took Calamity Jane out on a boat to scout the river
and what the spring runoff had done. At
one point Calamity Jane again showed a very strong interest about a linear mile
west of the Highway 75 Bridge. I
returned to
On Saturday April 17th
our team met at the
Our group left for
our search area about 6 miles south of the command center. Because of the terrain we were covering we
were the only group who used all terrain vehicles that day. Two other volunteers came from the Twin
Cities with ATV’s and were turned away at the command center. I took them with us and added them to our
team.
I kept busy trying to
keep track of everyone, but at one point I remember driving a couple miles back
to the impound building on the bluff overlooking the river near the bridge and
watching all the activity surrounding me.
All the volunteers on foot, the boat teams on the river, the helicopters
flying low and the dive team standing by were doing their absolute best to find
Dru. All these
people were here to help and none of them knew Dru
except some of the people on our team. I
stood on the bluff surveying the area around where Calamity had shown so much
interest on the river.
Shortly before
The sense of relief
was overshadowed by intense grief. The
hope everyone had that Dru was still alive somewhere
became the harsh reality that she was gone and it was like the past five months
didn’t exist. The task of contacting
other loved ones soon began and I went to find Dru’s
Uncle Lowell and her cousins that were with our group so that I could bring
them back to the command center. There
was already quite a bit of news media in the area and more kept calling my cell
phone as they observed the crime scene tape and saw County Road 61 blocked
off. They kept arriving while we waited
patiently for the press conference. Many
of the law enforcement officers the family had met and worked with began
arriving as well. It is difficult to describe
our feelings. None of us were sure what
we felt. We were basically numb.
Dru’s friends began showing up from
We look back and feel
the stars were aligned that day. Dru’s sorority sisters had a formal scheduled that evening
and their parents were all invited to attend.
Their families were there to comfort them. Dru’s family and I
had also planned to attend before Dru was found. Exactly two weeks before she was found, Dru’s dad and I walked along the rim of the ravine where Dru was found. We
had looked over the area where Dru was, but a few
snow drifts remained and we now know Dru didn’t want
us to be the ones that found her. We had
planned on looking at that area again the day before, but Calamity Jane picked
up something important not far away that kept us off schedule. It was proof to me of just how good Calamity
was. There was an article about me in
the St. Paul Pioneer Press that morning and as I look back now, it is important
to me that it was published that day. We
had searchers sign two large posters with Dru’s
picture that morning. One was for Allan
and one was for me. Governor Tim Pawlenty and several of the law enforcement officials we
worked with also signed the posters. The
fact they were signed the day Dru was found make them
even more special and priceless.
Finally, Dru’s mother, father and boyfriend
were together and in the area when she was found. This was the day and they had a feeling that
morning.
Allan and I were
talking the Tuesday evening after Dru was found. We had talked about all the media attention
and help Dru had received during the winter and we
knew of another family in nearby Brainerd whose daughter had been missing for
18 months. We agreed we should contact
them to offer our support and assistance.
Before we could contact them, the headline in the Brainerd Dispatch two
days later read “Search Resumes for Erika Dalquist”. We knew Dru was
doing her work and we were supposed to contact this family. I made the first call to Brainerd Police
Detective Chad Kleffman who was pleased to receive
our offer of assistance and felt the Dalquist’s would
be equally as pleased.
I
was honored to help plan Dru’s funeral, but even more
honored to be asked to be a Casket Bearer.
We looked at a couple of places large enough for Dru’s
funeral and the family selected Grand View Lodge in nearby Nisswa. It was a beautiful setting. There was room for about 500 indoors and
another 1,000 in tents outdoors. We had
met many reporters from newspapers and television over the winter and my cell
phone was working overtime responding to calls and requests. There was a visitation on Friday evening and
the service was on Saturday April 24th. There was an overflow crowd and it was the
most beautiful, heartfelt service I have ever seen. It was a service befitting a princess and Dru was, in all of our hearts, a princess gone too
soon. For months we wore buttons stating
“Come Home Dru Sjodin”. On the way to the cemetery in Crosslake, Dru was brought to the family home for a short visit. Dru had come home.
Dru was buried in a beautiful country cemetery in Crosslake. A song was played there that I listen to
often. Paper Angels by Jimmy Wayne is
very moving. It talks about the abused
and missing and the posters we often see describing a missing person. It is a blessing to have Dru
nearby and know where we can go to visit and talk to her. I stop by with flowers from time to
time. I can tell Dru
often has visitors. There are always
fresh flowers, ornaments, and new stuffed animals to keep her company. Notes and cards have been left from people
from far away.
I
have close friends in Crosslake whose children have called me Uncle Bob since
they were in their teens. I have adopted
Dru as another Niece, my favorite, although too late
for her to really know me. I am so happy
to know her dad Allan, mom Linda and step-dad Sid and to have become good
friends. Like my prior comment about
meeting Allan, if only we could have met in another way. It is through my many conversations with
them, and with Dru’s brother Sven, boyfriend Chris,
her Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and friends, that I feel I have come to know Dru so well. Dru has changed my life forever and Dru’s
voice will never go away. Dru’s voice will continue to help us do good things for
other people, to make them safer and more aware of their surroundings and Dru’s voice will help us to help other families who are
missing loved ones.
Erika
Dalquist
On
Monday May 3rd I met with Detective Chad Kleffman
and Colleen and Duane Dalquist at the Brainerd Police
Department to go over the disappearance of their daughter Erika and the
subsequent investigation and searches. The
Dalquist’s hired me to further investigate the
disappearance and organize additional searches for their daughter. I began by scouting and mapping what we
agreed was a prime focus area east of Brainerd.
I also contacted Denny Adams and asked him to help with Calamity Jane. We had 300 volunteers searching on Saturday
May 8th. Detective Kleffman told me more tips and leads had been coming in
over the past few days than after Erika first went missing. Over the next week, through investigation
and some luck, we were able to make arrangements to search the suspect’s
grandparent’s ranch.
We
had about 100 volunteers show up the next Saturday May 15th. We had expected more and I know this was
discouraging to Erika’s family. By now I
had heard rumors that people were saying it wasn’t possible to find Erika. They were giving up. You never give up and one thing I promised
was that if we don’t try we will never find Erika.
I
kept busy keeping track of the searchers, but at
Calamity
Jane showed a great deal of interest at one point and a little while later she
took off into the woods. We quickly lost
sight of her and began searching for Calamity.
We alerted neighbors and searched the woods and swamps for about 90
minutes. Around
Calamity
was still missing, but was found by police lying next to Erika’s remains at
about
We
attended Erika’s visitation on June 3rd and her funeral on June 4th. Calamity Jane was honored when the family
requested to have her sit in the front row.
She ended up sitting near Governor Pawlenty. I noticed on those two days that Calamity
didn’t look quite right. She seemed a
little sluggish. Denny and his wife
Kathy mentioned she hadn’t been feeling well and they were going to take her to
the veterinarian when they returned home.
On
June 5th, the suspect in Erika’s murder was arrested in
I
spoke with Denny that week and Calamity seemed to be doing a little
better. A day later Denny told me he
went to spend time with Calamity and talk to her. She rested her head in his lap. He later left to return home, but in only a
few minutes the vet called to tell Denny he had lost his best friend. What a great job she had done over the few
months I had known her. We were all
saddened by the news. It made headlines
across the country.
Denny
is now working with Miss Molly. The
younger bloodhound had accompanied us on some of our searches and it was clear
she still needed a little work. Shortly
after Calamity died it was difficult to tell them apart. It’s as if Molly knew it was her time to step
up to the plate.
LeeAnna Warner
On
June 15th I was contacted by a Twin Cities television station and
was told the family of LeeAnna Warner would like to
talk to me. This was the day after the
one year anniversary of LeeAnna’s disappearance. 5 year old LeeAnna
disappeared without a trace after walking around the block to visit a friend
who wasn’t home.
I
agreed to take the case and enlisted the help of Denny and retired Los Angeles
Police Homicide Detective Ike Eisntraut from
If
you know of a family in need of help, we are here for them. We can direct them to organizations offering
assistance, help with searches or direct them to qualified private
investigators across the country and around the world. Through our experience we have established a
network of support. No family should be
left wondering where their loved one is.
Bob
Heales
R.A.
Heales & Associates
8525
Edinbrook Crossing,
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7935
East Prentice Ave.,
800-225-7043
raheales@mindspring.com