Claim:   A 22-year-old University of North Dakota student named Dru Sjodin is missing.

Status:   Not any more.

Example:   [Collected on the Internet, 2003]

First of all I must say this is the hardest email I have ever written and it is no joke. Please forward this to everyone you know as someone's life may depend on it. Yesterday, Saturday November 22nd, UND student and my close friend Dru Sjodin disappeared. She was leaving Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, ND at about 5pm while talking casually on her cell phone. All of a sudden she said some words of panic and the the phone was hung up. She never called back and no one has been able to get a hold of her since...... Her car never left the mall. She is blonde, with blue eyes and a height of about 5' 5". She weighs about 140lbs. I have attached pictures of her. If you have any information please contact the Grand Forks police department or your local police.

Origins:   About 5:00 PM on the afternoon of 22 November 2003, Dru Sjodin, a 22-year-old University of North Dakota student, finished her shift at Victoria's Secret at the Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and was talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone as she walked to her car in the mall parking lot. The call ended abruptly (her last words were reportedly "No, no, no, ok, ok, ok" or "Oh, my God"), Dru failed to turn up for her second job as a waitress at a bar later that day, and she hasn't been seen since. Her car was later found in the mall parking lot with the driver's side door locked and the passenger's side door unlocked. The items she had purchased at the mall after work were left either in or around the car, according to Sjodin's mother and friends.

A second call was made from Dru's cell phone to her boyfriend about three hours after her disappearance, but the call consisted only of static and the sound of numbers being pressed.

Dru's family had set up a web site with photographs of Dru, the number of a tip line, and other information at http://www.finddru.com. Dru Sjodin was 5'7" tall and weighs about 130 pounds, with frosted blond hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing black slacks, black loafers, a pink and purple V-neck blouse, a black blazer-style jacket, and carrying a small black handbag.

On 1 December 2003, police arrested Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, in Crookston, Minnesota, on kidnapping charges related to Dru's disappearance. A knife and blood matching her type were found in the trunk of his car, and blood and a knife sheath were reportedly found in the parking lot of the mall from which Dru disappeared. In September 2006, a North Dakota jury sentenced him to death.

On 17 April 2004, the body of Dru Sjodin was found just west of Crookston, Minnesota, near the Minakwa Country Club golf course.

Last updated:   30 September 2007

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  Sources:

    Kolpack, Dave.   "Sheriff Says Missing North Dakota Student Found; No Details Provided."

    Associated Press.   17 April 2004.

    Kolpack, Dave and Curt Woodward.   "Knife, Blood Found in Suspect's Car in Missing Student Case."

    Associated Press.   8 December 2003.

    Reed, Travis.   "Suspect in College Student's Kidnapping Agrees to Face Charges; Search Continues."

    Associated Press.   3 December 2003.

    Vanden Brook, Tom.   "Search for Missing Student Has New Focus."

    USA Today.   3 December 2003   (p. A3).

    Associated Press.   "Family of Missing Student in North Dakota Sets Up Web Site as Investigation Continues."

    28 November 2003.

    Associated Press.   "Missing Student's Last Words on Phone: 'Oh, my God.'"

    Arizona Republic.   25 November 2003.

    Associated Press.   "Police Arrest Minnesota Man in Disappearance of Missing College Student."

    1 December 2003.