The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports in tomorrow's edition that the police have matched the DNA of the blood in the suspect's car to Dru Sjodin:

A preliminary DNA analysis of blood found in Alfonso Rodriguez's car matches DNA taken from a toothbrush belonging to missing North Dakota college student Dru Sjodin, two sources close to the investigation told the Star Tribune on Monday.

They and a third source close to the investigation confirmed Monday that investigators had found a knife in Rodriguez's car in a search conducted on Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving.

Someone close to the investigation wants to let people know that they have the right man, although the evidence is sealed at the moment. That may change later this week after a judge reviews a motion to vacate the seal order. The leaks may complicate efforts to bring Rodriguez to trial, but that's not what everyone is worried about at the moment. They want Rodriguez to tell the police where Dru is at, and they also want the public to know that he's the one responsible:

All three sources expressed frustration that the evidence had been sealed, sparking rumors and the leaking of bits and pieces of incomplete and occasionally incorrect information. "This should have been out a long time ago," one of the sources said. "People have been panicking and afraid to go to the mall. Their lives have been put on hold."

The DNA match is not the only new evidence to be leaked to the media, either. The knife that was found in the car has been matched to the sheath found at the mall where Dru was believed to have been abducted:

The knife found in Rodriguez's car belongs to a sheath that comes in a set, one of the sources said. The sheath was located early in the investigation near Sjodin's car, which was parked near the entrance to the J.C. Penney store in the Columbia Mall. ... The sheath could only belong to a particular knife sold exclusively in a home improvement store in Grand Forks as a set, one of the sources said. "So the person who dropped this sheath had the knife." ...

A knife matching the knife that authorities knew went with that sheath was found when Rodriguez's car was searched. It was taken for processing by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which made the preliminary DNA match a few days later, the source said.

It will just be a matter of time, I suspect, before Dru is finally found. What a nightmare for her family and friends, and what a waste of a young life. For more on my feelings about this, please read this.

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