← All cases

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.

Also known as: Murder of Dru Sjodin

Active

2003–2003

Region

Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA

States

MN, ND

Kind

Single

Status

Convicted

Victims

1

On November 22, 2003, Dru Sjodin, a 22-year-old University of North Dakota student, was abducted from the parking lot of Columbia Mall in Grand Forks after finishing her shift at a store there. Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., a Level 3 sex offender released from a Minnesota prison six months earlier, was arrested on December 1; her body was found in April 2004 in a ravine near Crookston, Minnesota, where he lived. Because she was taken across state lines, he was tried in federal court, convicted of kidnapping resulting in death in 2006, and sentenced to death. That sentence was vacated in 2021, and in 2023 it was replaced with life without parole. Her case led to "Dru's Law" and the national sex offender public website named for her.

Ask the Atlas about this case →

Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Dru Katrina Sjodin, 22 · November 22, 2003

  A University of North Dakota student from Pequot Lakes, Minnesota; a UND scholarship and the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website carry her name.

Timeline of locations

1. May 2003
   Rodriguez's home, Crookston, Minnesota (Killer's residence, approximate area)

   After his release from prison in May 2003, Rodriguez lived with his mother in Crookston. He was arrested on December 1, 2003.

2. November 22, 2003
   Columbia Mall, Grand Forks (Abduction)

   Dru was abducted from the mall parking lot after finishing her shift at a store in the mall.

3. April 17, 2004
   Ravine near Crookston (Recovery site, approximate area)

   Dru's body was found in a ravine near Crookston nearly five months after she disappeared.

4. August 2006
   Quentin N. Burdick U.S. Courthouse, Fargo (Court / trial)

   A federal jury convicted Rodriguez of kidnapping resulting in death in August 2006 and voted for a death sentence, which Judge Ralph Erickson formally imposed in February 2007. The sentence was vacated in 2021 and amended to life without parole in May 2023.

Sources

• Murder of Dru Sjodin (Wikipedia)
• Death sentence for Alfonso Rodriguez, who killed Dru Sjodin, changed to life in prison (InForum, 2023)
• Rodriguez formally sentenced to death (MPR News, 2007)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.