On 18 June 2008 Joseph Sodd III was murdered near the intersection of 19th Avenue South and 7th Street South, near the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis. He was home from college for the summer and his family and friends are asking for your help. The motive for this murder is unclear at this time. Homicide investigators have put in hundreds of hours on this case and have developed many leads.
Sodd died in the early morning hours from a sharp force injury.

Investigators believe there are still members of the community that have information about this case.

If you have any information, please call Call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or the Minneapolis police at 1-800-692-TIPS

Late-night homicide in Cedar-Riverside claims life of  young dancer
By Roxanne Bergeron | June 19, 2008

Around 2 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday, June 18, a man was found stabbed and unconscious near the intersection of South Seventh Street and 19th Avenue South, near Augsburg College in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. He died shortly thereafter at Hennepin County Medical Center.

The victim has been identified as 20-year-old Joseph Sodd, III, an alumnus of Perpich Center for Arts Education. He was a dancer and a student at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. No arrests have been made at this time. The Minneapolis Police Department Homicide Unit is investigating the crime.

The day before Sodd’s murder, a crime alert was issued for several neighborhoods on the East Bank near the University of Minnesota. Como, Marcy Holmes, Prospect Park and the University of Minnesota neighborhoods are involved in the alert. Three robberies of person have occurred since June 1, all involving female victims and black male suspects.

A personal safety workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Eastside Neighborhood Services, 1700 Second Street NE, Minneapolis. Call Second Precinct Crime Prevention Specialist Carol Oosterhuis at 612-673-2874 to register.

The crime alert advises the following:
Avoid carrying a purse or bag with valuables (large amounts of cash, checkbook, credit cards, etc). If you carry cash, carry a small amount in your front pocket or wear a waist pack that can be covered by a shirt or jacket. Do not resist if a robber wants your handbag. Being pulled down by the shoulder strap of your bag or purse can cause injuries.

Victims of robberies can be any age and race and can be men or women. Take the following precautions:

Try to walk with another person. If you are walking in or near the University of Minnesota, you can contact 624-WALK for the University escort service.

Carry as little cash as possible. Carry your keys and money in a pocket, not in a purse or wallet.

Be observant and aware of your surroundings. Avoid being absorbed in telephone conversations or music.

Avoid alleys or poorly lit areas.

If you feel uneasy, go directly to a place where there are other people.

If you are walking at night, choose well-lighted streets.

If a robber approaches you, do not resist. Try to get a good description of the robber, as well as vehicle description and license plate number. Call 911 immediately.

Do the Right Thing
By fearnoart44 | FEBRUARY 18, 2009 — 2:45PM

I knew him as “Booshi”. In the early morning of June 18, 2008 “Booshi” or Joseph Sodd III was violently murdered in the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis.

His Mom and Dad, Liz and Joe, are old friends of mine. And Booshi was their first-born. Joe and Liz were one of the first of my friends to have a child, so this boy was something special to us. Over the years I moved out of town and lost touch with Joe and Liz, Booshi and their second child, Alden. But in 2004, there was a reunion of sorts and I was reacquainted with Joe and Liz. They could not stop talking about the now-high school student, Booshi and what a fantastic performer he was becoming. He was a dancer! Imagine that. Where did that gene come from? And how refreshing to encounter parents who actually relished the fact that their son was an artist. They loved that boy. And oh, were they proud of him.

No one should lose a child to such violence. His case remains unsolved. A reward has recently been offered. Someone out there must know something about this crime. Please do the right thing for this extraordinary young man and his family. Call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or the Minneapolis police at 1-800-692-TIPS

The First 48
S 8 E 10
Out of Sight / Missing Piece
Mar 19, 2009 | 45m 15s | TV-14
In Minneapolis, after a night out with friends, a college student is stabbed to death while getting on his scooter to ride home. During a canvass of the crime scene, lead investigator Sgt. John Holthusen is confronted with the neighborhood’s escalating violence when he catches a man being attacked. Holthusen must determine if the assailant is also the killer.
And in Miami, Detectives Rick Martinez and Emiliano Tamayo investigate the murder of a teenaged boy shot in a residential backyard. The case takes a dramatic turn, when detectives learn about a dispute between the victim and two of his teenaged friends. Detectives need find out if the friends are innocent or if they committed the ultimate act of betrayal.

You can watch it free on A&E tv sign in with your cable company login or on the AETV app just create a free profile and it’s free. You can watch it on Hulu. It is also on-demand!

Here is 48 Hours episode

Views: 1610

Books by Robert M. Dudley

Searching For Sara Bushland
Finding Jacob Wetterling: The 27-Year Investigation from Kidnapping to Confession
Cold Cases of Stearns County, Minnesota
Cold Cases of West Central Wisconsin
It Can’t Happen Here: The Search for Jacob Wetterling
It Can’t Happen Here – 2nd Edition: Answers in the Sand
Tragedy on the Prairie – The Story of the 1976 Kimball Post Office Bomb
Two Sisters Missing: the 1974 Reker murders

I’m sure there are more, these are the ones I know of.

Retired Chief Continues Hunt For Young Salon Owner’s Killer
By Liz Collin | May 3, 2018 at 6:33 pm

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — It is the only unsolved homicide case in one southern Minnesota county, and a police chief is spending his retirement looking for new clues.

Someone murdered 21-year-old JoAnn Bontjes near Sherburn in 1975.

From old maps to yearbook pages, Don Mickelson has spent the last few years filling notebooks and folders with details about a young woman he never knew.

“She was a tough gal. She was a hard-nosed gal,” Mickelson said.

A popular hair stylist, Bontjes owned her own salon at 21. But after a night out at the Trimont Legion on October 1, 1975, she would never be back to run her business.

Bontjes’s car was spotted along Highway 4 south of Trimont. Nearly 40 hours would pass before a farmer would find her body a mile and a half away in a shallow ditch.

It is believed Bontjes was held captive before she was left alongside the road, badly bruised and shot in the head.

Mickelson spent 22 years as the police chief of nearby St. James. He never worked the case directly. But he has dedicated the last few years of his retirement looking for answers, hiring psychics, talking to people who have never been interviewed and posting his theories on Facebook.

The case belongs to the Martin County Sheriff’s office. Investigators there told WCCO a sample pulled out of evidence within the last year from the Bontjes case has been sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing.

Its team has conducted numerous interviews over the years as they continue to work the county’s only homicide case to remain unsolved — now for more than 42 years.

“I’ve got some people that are 90 years old or older who have been contacting me and said, ‘I’d like to see this solved before I die,’” Mickelson said.

Mickelson is offering a $3,000 reward in the case.

Anyone with any information about the death of JoAnn Bontjes is asked to call the Martin County Sheriff’s Department at 507-238-3166.

Views: 353

Recently, DNA testing uncovered new physical evidence that could be critically important in solving the case. Police believe that there are witnesses who may have seen Dahl’s killer in the apartment building.

Please help bring closure to the family and friends of Helen Mary Dahl and bring his killer(s) to justice.

Anyone with information about this case is requested to contact:
Minneapolis Police Department Homicide Unit at 612-673-2941 or the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Cold Case Unit at 651-793-7000 or 1-877-996-6222
bca.tips@state.mn.us

Views: 31

Heather was last seen alive leaving work at 3:30 pm on Thursday, 2 November 1989 from the main office of NSP (now known as Excel Energy), 414 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. She was known to usually take the 16 bus to her apartment at Cedar Square East in the west bank area of the University of Minnesota. It is not known whether she went home on this evening.

Her body was found at 10 am Friday 3 November 1989 in the shallow water of the Sunrise River off State Highway 95 about 4.5 miles east of North Branch, MN in Chisago County. It appears that her body was thrown into the river from a small bridge on Highway 95. Heather was 5’2” tall and weighed 110 Lbs and had reddish blond hair.

In 2008 this case was turned over to Chisago County’s homicide unit. The Heather Lamperd homicide file is being worked by BCA’s cold case team. Sheriff Rivard is still hopeful this 19-year-old murder case will be closed someday. Lamperd’s body was found in the Sunrise River, under a highway 95 bridge in early November 1989. This case was turned over to Sheriff Todd Rivard.

Anyone who saw Heather Lamperd after 3:30 pm on 2 November 1989 or has other information regarding her activity, where she went or her murder is asked to call 911 or contact Minnesota Crime Stoppers. 1-800-222-TIPS

There is really nothing on this case on the internet! If you have any information, please call 911 or please leave a tip: Crime Stoppers

Views: 87