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American Morning
Man Arrested in Missing Student Case
Aired December 02, 2003 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: An arrest has been made in connection with the disappearance of a University of North Dakota student. Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr., a convicted rapist, is right now being held in Crookston, Minnesota, near Grand Forks, North Dakota.
He's facing a kidnapping charge. Dru Sjodin, of course, has been missing now since November 22, when she left her job at a Grand Forks mall. That was the last she's been seen of.
Police were called after a call by the woman to her boyfriend was cut short and a second call was traced, which allowed authorities to concentrate their search on a rest area seven miles from where Sjodin was last seen. No trace of her has been found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SVEN SJODIN, MISSING WOMAN'S BROTHER: We're looking for letters, you know, a note that she may have thrown out of a window -- again, anything that can help us. We know she's near. We're just looking for that one last clue that will turn -- you know, turn that rock over and find her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: As we mentioned, a man is in custody right now. The suspect, Rodriguez, is on Minnesota's sexual predator list.
Mya Nishikawa of station WCCO told me more about Rodriguez when I spoke with her just a few moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MYA NISHIKAWA, CNN AFFILIATE WCCO REPORTER: We know that he's a level 3 sex offender living in Crookston, Minnesota, which is about 35 miles from here in Grand Forks. Grand Forks is where Dru Sjodin disappeared about 10 days ago.
We know that he has a long history of rape, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and he's been known to use a weapon and use force, and that he has had adult women as his victims -- a couple of them women that he didn't know.
We know that his release date was listed by the Corrections Department as seven months ago, and he has been living in Crookston, Minnesota.
He has an extradition hearing this morning at 10:00 Central Time in Minnesota. And the plan is to bring him here to North Dakota to face a kidnapping charge, and we're told that he's not expected to fight that extradition -- Anderson.
COOPER: Is anything at this point known about his M.O.? I mean, you mentioned kidnapping and you mentioned the use of a weapon. Has he ever used a weapon in the past? At this point, is it publicly known?
NISHIKAWA: He has been known to use a weapon and to use force on his victims -- again, adult women. We don't know what is tying him to this case, what is tying him to Dru Sjodin. We do know that Dru Sjodin had received some harassing phone calls at her work at Victoria's Secret at the Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota, but we don't know whether he may be the person who had made those phone calls.
Her father had also mentioned another man that had been pressuring her for more of a relationship than she wanted. So, at this point, we're not sure just what led police to this arrest.
COOPER: And the bottom line, Dru Sjodin is still missing. No further information?
NISHIKAWA: Still missing, still very painful for her family. They're really hoping to bring her home. The search continues. They've been expanding the search area to include the area of Crookston, so that is much closer to where they found the suspect.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: That was Mya Nishikawa of station WCCO.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired December 2, 2003 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: An arrest has been made in connection with the disappearance of a University of North Dakota student. Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr., a convicted rapist, is right now being held in Crookston, Minnesota, near Grand Forks, North Dakota.
He's facing a kidnapping charge. Dru Sjodin, of course, has been missing now since November 22, when she left her job at a Grand Forks mall. That was the last she's been seen of.
Police were called after a call by the woman to her boyfriend was cut short and a second call was traced, which allowed authorities to concentrate their search on a rest area seven miles from where Sjodin was last seen. No trace of her has been found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SVEN SJODIN, MISSING WOMAN'S BROTHER: We're looking for letters, you know, a note that she may have thrown out of a window -- again, anything that can help us. We know she's near. We're just looking for that one last clue that will turn -- you know, turn that rock over and find her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: As we mentioned, a man is in custody right now. The suspect, Rodriguez, is on Minnesota's sexual predator list.
Mya Nishikawa of station WCCO told me more about Rodriguez when I spoke with her just a few moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MYA NISHIKAWA, CNN AFFILIATE WCCO REPORTER: We know that he's a level 3 sex offender living in Crookston, Minnesota, which is about 35 miles from here in Grand Forks. Grand Forks is where Dru Sjodin disappeared about 10 days ago.
We know that he has a long history of rape, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and he's been known to use a weapon and use force, and that he has had adult women as his victims -- a couple of them women that he didn't know.
We know that his release date was listed by the Corrections Department as seven months ago, and he has been living in Crookston, Minnesota.
He has an extradition hearing this morning at 10:00 Central Time in Minnesota. And the plan is to bring him here to North Dakota to face a kidnapping charge, and we're told that he's not expected to fight that extradition -- Anderson.
COOPER: Is anything at this point known about his M.O.? I mean, you mentioned kidnapping and you mentioned the use of a weapon. Has he ever used a weapon in the past? At this point, is it publicly known?
NISHIKAWA: He has been known to use a weapon and to use force on his victims -- again, adult women. We don't know what is tying him to this case, what is tying him to Dru Sjodin. We do know that Dru Sjodin had received some harassing phone calls at her work at Victoria's Secret at the Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota, but we don't know whether he may be the person who had made those phone calls.
Her father had also mentioned another man that had been pressuring her for more of a relationship than she wanted. So, at this point, we're not sure just what led police to this arrest.
COOPER: And the bottom line, Dru Sjodin is still missing. No further information?
NISHIKAWA: Still missing, still very painful for her family. They're really hoping to bring her home. The search continues. They've been expanding the search area to include the area of Crookston, so that is much closer to where they found the suspect.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: That was Mya Nishikawa of station WCCO.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
