歪歪漫画

In Loving Memory of Dru

As you were

You will always be

Treasured forever

In our memory

PEQUOT LAKES, Minnesota 鈥� Those words are inscribed on a marble plaque on the ground outside Linda Walker's longtime home in rural Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, in memory of her daughter.

Forum News Service File Photo

Walker vividly recalls Nov. 22, 2003 鈥� the day her 22-year-old daughter, Dru Sjodin, went missing.

鈥淚 was here at home. I got a call from who at that time was Dru鈥檚 boyfriend, Chris (Lang), saying that something was wrong,鈥� Walker said while sitting in her kitchen.

鈥淚t was the first Thanksgiving that my entire family was going to get together 鈥� my parents, my brothers and their families. And so we were all preparing for that,鈥� she said.

鈥淐hris called and said, 鈥楽he didn鈥檛 show up for work.鈥� And I knew immediately something was wrong because she was so reliable,鈥� Walker said of her daughter.

That moment 20 years ago changed Walker鈥檚 life, and the lives of so many more people.

who was attending the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, had been kidnapped from the parking lot at the Columbia Mall, where she had worked her shift at a job before not showing up later at a second job she held elsewhere.

Her body was found nearly five months later near Crookston, Minnesota.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was convicted and sentenced to death. Just this year, a judge overturned that death sentence and Rodriguez is serving life in prison.

Whether it was a mother鈥檚 intuition or just knowing her daughter so well, Walker immediately knew something wasn鈥檛 right after getting Lang鈥檚 call.

鈥淭here was just so much that she had been obligated to do. She was one to show up, not one to not,鈥� Dru鈥檚 mother said.

Walker in turn called Dru鈥檚 father, Allan Sjodin, who lived in the Twin Cities. Despite a snowstorm that night, he jumped in his truck and drove straight through to Grand Forks, Walker said.

Nancy Vogt / Echo Journal

鈥淚t鈥檚 just like we knew. He got in his truck and he literally drove into Grand Forks with just fumes of gas left in his tank,鈥� she said.

Allan Sjodin called the next morning. He had found Dru鈥檚 car in the mall parking lot, but it had been moved.

鈥淚t wasn't where she normally had parked, but he sat by the car until law enforcement got there,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淎nd then after that, everything just imploded in our world.鈥�

At first, Walker didn鈥檛 know what to do.

鈥淒o mothers go searching for daughters in fields?鈥� she asked. 鈥淚 just didn鈥檛 know where to go.

鈥淚 was feeling guilty. I wanted to be home in case she called,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut yet I felt hopeless sitting here and everybody鈥檚 out searching and looking. But then I felt that this is where I needed to be.鈥�

A person doesn鈥檛 get a manual when something like this happens, Walker said, noting she did eventually help on searches for her daughter.

She was there with Allan Sjodin and others when her daughter was found in April 2004.

鈥淥ne of the officers that actually ended up finding her came up to me that morning and said, 鈥榊ou know, we're going to find her today.鈥� And he turned around and they went off,鈥� she said.

Later, they got a call from the command center at Crookston High 歪歪漫画 to return there.

鈥淎nd I remember that ride like it was yesterday. It was probably not even a 20-minute ride. It felt like forever, not a word spoken in the car,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淎nd we drove in and that鈥檚 when they said that they found her.鈥�

Finding her daughter was better than never knowing what happened.

鈥淥n this journey, I鈥檝e ended up meeting many, many parents across the United States that have never found their children. They鈥檙e still looking,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淎s horrible as it is to know what happened to Dru and to never get her back 鈥� to me, I couldn鈥檛 fathom looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life wondering if I鈥檇 ever see her.

鈥淎nd I think of those families that don鈥檛 get the answers and how painful their journey has to be. Knowing is terrible, but never knowing 鈥� I just can鈥檛 imagine,鈥� she said.

Finding Dru didn鈥檛 provide closure though. Rather, another chapter opened with more issues to deal with as best she could.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no instructions,鈥� Walker said again. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e just grateful for the support, and there鈥檚 been just a tremendous amount of support through the years.鈥�

Walker鈥檚 way to work through her pain was to become an advocate for children and victims of sexual assault and violence.

鈥淚 wanted to know how, in such a civilized world, could a system fail a young girl like my daughter and other young men and women and children,鈥� she said.

Rodriguez had a long criminal record for assaults against women and had served 23 years in prison. His evaluator before he was released from prison said he was likely to reoffend.

Opportunities arose for Walker to become involved in legislation, including the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which includes Dru鈥檚 Law. The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website provides information about registered sex offenders鈥� locations regardless of state boundaries.

Walker counts that as one of her greatest achievements.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e deciding to move from one area to another, you can see who lives where, and the worst of the worst,鈥� she said.

She became a public speaker and involved in numerous other initiatives nationwide.

鈥淚t was my therapy to get through it,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淚f I could just get to one person, it felt rewarding.鈥�

She remembers receiving her first letter with a return address label of 鈥淧arents of Murdered Children.鈥�

鈥淚 was just so surprised how dark and deep all the subjects were, but also how much more could have been done,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd it seemed like a failure a lot on the victim鈥檚 part because red tape would get in the way.鈥�

Her advocacy continued until about 2012, when she received an award in Washington, D.C., from the FBI. Soon after that, her husband, Sid Walker, died.

While proud of the work she did, Walker is also disappointed about the work that didn鈥檛 get done because legislation never received approval.

鈥淪ometimes you felt like you were making headway, and then you took steps back,鈥� she said.

Twenty years later, Walker thinks about Dru and where she would be in life today. She gets a sense of foreboding when anniversary dates approach 鈥� like Nov. 22, the day Dru was taken, as well as the day she was found and the day of her funeral.

But she is happy.

鈥淵es, I鈥檓 happy. I鈥檓 happy that I have a son that has children and family. I鈥檝e got amazing friends. And so I鈥檓 happy for that,鈥� she said.

Her son, Sven, and his wife have eight children. Dru held her oldest nephew, who was born in 2002. Her second nephew was born the day of a candlelight vigil held for Dru in Pequot Lakes about a month after she disappeared.

鈥淓very day I get up, I find something always to be thankful for,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淚t does no good to not try and find the best in the day. You can鈥檛 let one evil person strip it away from so many good people.

鈥淎nd the outpouring of love and support - oh my gosh - through the years, and still from people all over,鈥� she said.

She added:

鈥淥f course, I would do anything to make it not the way it was 鈥� or is, I should say. But I don鈥檛 have that capability. And that鈥檚 not my reality.鈥�

• The Dru Sjodin Foundation of Empowerment through Education was created last spring. The foundation鈥檚 mission statement is: 鈥淭o honor Dru Sjodin, by empowering students through focused educational tools that cannot be taken away.鈥�

Those with the foundation hope to bring a radKIDS program to the area; radKIDS is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to providing realistic choices and options to children and parents concerning their overall safety in the world today.

Nancy Vogt / Echo Journal

• An annual golf tournament fundraiser in Pequot Lakes is still held in August in Dru鈥檚 memory, and for years as well against women and children.
• At the Pequot Lakes All-歪歪漫画 Reunion in August, the featured Class of 1973 marked their 50-year reunion by raising and donating $648 for The Dru Sjodin Foundation of Empowerment through Education. 
• Artist Jeff Kreitz made a metal fish to be included in the school reunion silent auction. He also created Dru鈥檚 metal headstone at Pinewood Cemetery in Crosslake, Minnesota. 

Contributed

• The Pequot Lakes Park Commission put an angel in Dru鈥檚 Garden in North Trailside Park in Pequot Lakes for the holiday season.
• The Louise Seliski Women鈥檚 Shelter in Brainerd, which is part of the Relationship Safety Alliance, puts up a Christmas tree to honor Dru and Erika Dalquist 鈥� another local victim of violence in 2002 鈥� every year. Dru鈥檚 family provided the pink ornaments that decorate the tree that stays up through Valentine鈥檚 Day.
• Pequot Lakes 歪歪漫画 still has a mural that retired art teacher Dave Guenther and art students made that hangs in the cafeteria. 
• A documentary about Dru will air on ABC 20/20 in December.