Police at ‘50-Yard Line’ in Search for Student

The arrest of a convicted rapist in the disappearance of a college student produced no immediate breakthrough in the search for the woman Tuesday, but the police chief vowed: “Dru, we will find you.”

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, was arrested Monday night in nearby Crookston, Minn., and charged with kidnapping University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin, 22. Sjodin has been missing since Nov. 22, when she left her job at the Victoria’s Secret store at a mall in Grand Forks. Her fate was not immediately known.

“This investigation has only reached the 50-yard line,” said Grand Forks Police Chief John Packett. “We will not be satisfied or comforted until such time as we find Dru.”

Prosecutor Peter Welte said police believed Rodriguez was in the mall parking lot the night Sjodin disappeared.

Authorities would not say how they connected Rodriguez to the case, although they said it was routine to look at area sex offenders when investigating such crimes.

Rodriguez has convictions for rape, attempted kidnapping and aggravated assault, and he has used a weapon in at least one assault, according to a Minnesota state agency.

Because of his record, he was required to register as a predatory offender -- the classification for those believed to pose the greatest risk of committing another sex crime.

Meanwhile, officials released photos of the suspect’s car and asked that anyone who might have spotted it around the time of Sjodin’s disappearance to call police.