In the Spotlight

Tools
News & Features
Arrest in Poirier Disappearance
By Bob Kelleher
June 21, 1999
Click for audio RealAudio 3.0


Katie Poirier
 
A Richfield man is being held in the Carlton County jail. Authorities plan to charge him in the disappearance of Katie Poirier. Poirier was forced from an Interstate-35 convenience store late on May 26th. The suspect was arrested Sunday in Richfield. A ground search has resumed east of Moose Lake for Poirier.

CARLTON COUNTY SHERIFF Dave Seboe says the suspect will be charged with kidnapping 19-year-old Katie Poirier. Investigators began focusing on the suspect following tips from people who recognized him from a description based on a fuzzy videotape of the crime. Seboe says the man owns a cabin and property in the Moose Lake area, and was known to be in the region when Poirier was kidnapped from a convenience store in Moose Lake just off I-35.
Seboe: We have witnesses that put him in this area. We know that the vehicle that we were looking for, the black pickup truck, is his.
The 50-year-old man was arrested Sunday afternoon in Richfield as he returned from a Northern Minnesota camping trip with his family. The arrest was made by officers with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI. Seboe says the suspect has a lengthy criminal record, including multiple felony convictions for sexual assault. Seboe says he's confident the man in custody is the same person caught on tape forcing Katie Poirier out of the store.
Seboe: I feel good. I believe that we have the evidence. I believe we have the right person.
But 19-year-old Katie Poirier has not been found. The sheriff's department combed the suspect's rural property, while BCA agents searched buildings. Agents also searched his Richfield home and uncovered potential evidence. Seboe wouldn't comment on what evidence may have been recovered. But he says the ground search for Katie is resuming.
Seboe: I've called out the National Guard again. I've asked the volunteers for help. I know the state highway patrol is sending in personnel. We're asking anyone that wants to help us search to come in and search.
Governor Ventura responded by ordering 100 National Guard troops from Duluth to join the search. The state patrol provided 30 troopers.

At the Moose Lake Emergency Operations Center, volunteers are plentiful as word spread through Moose Lake of an arrest in the case. Six pickup trucks stand ready with all-terrain vehicles to take searchers through dense woods. Moose Lake Fire Chief Austin Berg was mapping the new search area.
Berg: The search area will be located east of Moose Lake on what's called the County Line Road. It's beyond where we ended the search previously. We're about 10 miles out of Moose Lake. Berg says it's important to find evidence of the missing girl.
Berg: We're hoping to bring in the evidence - and hopefully Katie - if that's what it's going to be to bring a conclusion for the family. That's the big part, but also for us, because it's been a roller coaster out here.
Several blocks away, Poirier's family and friends are redirecting volunteers to the official search, while winding down the family's effort to find Katie. Moose Lake's Hope Lutheran Church became an unofficial headquarters after the first ground search was called off. Volunteers, including one who called herself Teri, have renewed hope.
Terri: I am so hopeful, and this family just needs some closure.
Katie Poirier's parents were told about the arrest on Sunday. Katie's father, Steve, says he's not yet relieved by the news.
Poirier: We still haven't found Katie yet. That's been our main goal: to find Katie. We'll worry about who did it after we find Katie. Yeah, there's a little hope, a little more hope today than the other day.
The suspect has not provided any information to authorities, and is expected to make an appearance in Carlton County District Court Tuesday morning.