John Joubert, Nebraska Boy Snatcher

Slide showing investigative techniques

Given all the information — what little there was — Ressler put together a preliminary report of his impressions.  The Behavioral Sciences Unit had an approach that had not often been tested, but Ressler felt confident that, from his long experience with the Army's CID and his investigative years with the FBI, he could give a fairly accurate idea of the type of offender the task force, composed of the local and county police and the FBI, might be looking for.

Given the witness reports from the boys, Ressler knew that he ought to be on the lookout for a white man in a tan car.   He added, based on his knowledge of sexual predators, that the man was probably young, in his late teens to early twenties.  Danny Joe had been abducted from a white neighborhood, and no one had reported a suspicious stranger, which seemed unlikely if a black, Asian or Hispanic male had been hanging around.  Ressler believed that the lack of a report confirmed his instincts that this had been a white man.  It seemed possible, since there was no sign of resistance or a struggle, that the man was either friendly and non-threatening or that Danny Joe had known him and felt safe. 

There was also reason to believe that the perpetrator was not experienced with killing.  In fact, Ressler ventured to say this was his first time: "I thought it had to be his first murder."  It might also be the case that there had been more than one male operating together — one to lure the boy, one to hold him down during an assault.  The method of dumping suggested panic rather than experience, but the perpetrator was more than likely familiar with the area, because he knew abut the dead-end road.  Ressler did not believe that Danny Joe had been bound while held captive.