Posted on 02/02/2003 8:34:03 AM PST by runningbear
Edited on 04/13/2004 1:55:47 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Modesto police said Saturday they had no new developments in their investigation into Laci Peterson's disappearance.
Peterson, 27, was reported missing from her Modesto home on Christmas Eve. She is due to give birth to a son, Connor, this month.
(Excerpt) Read more at modbee.com ...
"Scott Peterson, Laci Peterson's husband, has not been named a suspect in the case, but also has not been cleared, police said.
Peterson did not return phone messages Saturday, and no one was at the Peterson Covena Avenue home. Reached at his home, Kirk McAllister, an attorney retained by Peterson, refused to comment."
I read Friday that McAllister quit? Any confirmations?
Amber Frey, massage therapist?
I had not heard that. Wonder how old Scotty boy really met her?
He is never at that home. He must KNOW she is never coming home or he'd stay there, hoping she could get away from her captors to call or crawl home. Methinks he is haunted by something he may have done there.... Maybe he is haunted by his umbrella-care routine...
Modest Bee stories on the Laci Peterson Case:
http://www.modbee.com/reports/laci/
Modbee reports
Before reaching the later months of her pregnancy, Laci Peterson occasionally worked as a substitute teacher.
Scott Peterson is a salesman for Tradecorp, a Spanish company that manufactures and distributes a line of special fertilizers. He joined the Modesto Rotary Club about one year ago.
Modesto police and firefighters carried out a massive and futile search along Dry Creek on Wednesday for a woman who is eight months pregnant who disappeared Christmas Eve while walking her dog in East La Loma Park.
The last time Laci Peterson is known to have spoken with anyone other than her husband was Dec. 23 about 8:30 p.m. when she had a phone conversation with her mother, police said.
On Dec. 23, Laci and her mother spoke by telephone. The call ended about 8:30 p.m. Scott told police he last saw his wife the next morning as he left for a fishing trip out of the Berkeley Marina, and was unable to find her when he returned home that evening.
Peterson called Grantski, Laci's stepfather, who then called police. (reported time 5:48 PM, MPD)
One of Laci Peterson's family members believes that whatever happened to her may have occurred sometime on Dec. 23, after she spoke to her mother.
Laci Peterson opened the drapes in her home every morning, said the family member, who asked not to be identified.
"I don't think she made it through that night," the family member said. "If she was alive that morning, she would have opened up her drapes. I know that's something minor, but maybe it was overlooked."
December 24th 2002:
By nightfall, there was still no sign of Laci Denise Peterson, 27, who left her home on Covena Avenue about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
She was last seen in the park about 10 a.m. Peterson was reported missing shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday, after her husband returned home from a fishing trip to the Bay Area, police said.
Officers located people who said they saw her in the park about 10 a.m. Karen Servas, a neighbor, said she spotted the Petersons' golden retriever about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, his leash attached and muddy. Servas said she returned the dog to its yard, not realizing there might be something amiss.
Police said Scott Peterson tried calling his wife on his cell phone when he finished fishing but was not able to reach her. When he arrived home, he said he found her purse in the house and her sport-utility vehicle in the driveway.
He started contacting neighbors and family members, and then called police, officials said.
The Petersons have lived in the neighborhood about two years, and friends described the missing woman as cheerful and friendly.
The 3-day-old search for a missing Modesto woman ended without success Thursday just as police posted yellow crime- scene tape around her house and served a search warrant.
Officers arrived with the warrant at 7:45 p.m. at Laci Denise Peterson's house in the La Loma neighborhood. FBI crime- scene investigators joined police inside the home.
Authorities said the house would remain sealed through the night, and the investigation would continue today. Police said Peterson's husband, Scott, was staying with friends.
Officials declined to say what they might be looking for.
At 10 p.m., workers prepared to haul a pair of vehicles from the Peterson home. Authorities said Laci Peterson's Land Rover sport utility vehicle and her husband's Ford F150 pickup would be examined elsewhere.
Investigators theorized that Peterson disappeared some time between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. the day before Christmas.
A police officer interviewing people along the park's Peggy Mensinger Trail, and elsewhere around the park, reported that he spoke with a woman who said she heard screams about 10:15 a.m. Christmas Eve. She lives on the park's border.....
(This maybe a strike out as not credible or implicated to this case, my opinion)....
Scott Peterson is the last person to report seeing his wife for certain. It was about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to police, and he said he was going on a fishing trip to the Bay Area, and his wife was headed to East La Loma Park with McKenzie, an 8-year-old golden retriever.
A neighbor found the dog, with leash attached, wandering at 10:30 a.m., and put the dog in the Peterson yard, not realizing that something might have been amiss. Thursday, Police Chief Roy Wasden said the leash was muddy, as if it had been dragged for some distance.
Scott Peterson reported his wife missing at 6 p.m. after he returned home. Police launched a search then and continued the effort Christmas Day.
at 5 p.m. when officers released the bloodhound in front of the Peterson home, the dog did not go to the dirt path. Instead, the hound led police to houses around the corner, then south to Yosemite Boulevard and eventually to Santa Rosa Avenue near E.&J. Gallo Winery.
(Originally published Dec. 28, 2002)
Investigators expanded their hunt for clues Friday to a warehouse used by the Modesto man whose pregnant wife has been missing since Christmas Eve.
police and FBI crime-scene analysts spent a second day working inside the La Loma neighborhood home that belongs to the missing woman, Laci Peterson, 27, and her husband, Scott, 30.
The warehouse, which Peterson uses in his work as an agricultural salesman, is on North Emerald Avenue near Kansas Avenue in Modesto. Police sealed the warehouse as well as the Peterson home.
Modesto and Berkeley police went to a marina on San Francisco Bay to investigate Peterson's claim that he was fishing at the time his wife disappeared. No details were available about what detectives might have found out.
Ridenour said investigators were looking for evidence in two computers and two vehicles seized Thursday night from the Peterson home.
Neighbors told about their home being burglarized across the street from the Peterson home some time around Christmas.
According to police, Peterson said he last saw his wife at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday when he left with his aluminum fishing boat for a trip out of Berkeley, and she headed to East La Loma Park with their dog.
Police said Peterson told detectives that he tried to call his wife after he was done fishing, but was unable to reach her. He reported her missing shortly before 6 p.m. after returning home, authorities said.
Thursday, Peterson left a news conference shortly after it began at the Police Department, apparently upset that reporters were asking questions about the fishing trip.
He did not appear with other family members at either of two press conferences Friday.
At one of the Friday news conferences, as a reporter questioned police about Peterson's fishing trip, Lee Peterson stood and said that his son had provided detectives with a launch receipt that verified his trip. Later, Peterson also said his son had turned over a receipt from a Bay Area gas station.
Police said they doubt now whether Peterson went to East La Loma Park on Tuesday, despite witnesses who said they believed that they saw her there with her golden retriever.
Police said they had found no connection between Peterson's disappearance and a burglary across the street from her Covena Avenue home. Investigators say they believe the burglary occurred between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesday, the day Peterson disappeared.
A neighbor found the dog, with leash attached, wandering in the neighborhood and put it in the Petersons' yard, not knowing that anything might be amiss. Family members said the dog did not behave in an unusual manner.
Evidence collected so far includes two computers and two vehicles from the Peterson home, and a boat from the Modesto warehouse that Scott Peterson uses in his work as an agricultural salesman.
Police said they were still investigating receipts that Peterson turned over from his trip, one for launching his boat and one for gasoline in the Bay Area. Published 12/30/02
The bloodhound made a beeline down Maze, said deputy Mark Cardoza, a member of the dive team.
"We are looking at all the areas where people could pull off the side of the road and not be seen," he said Monday.
At an afternoon news conference at the Modesto Police Department, Sgt. Ron Cloward said bloodhounds often are reliable.
"I've worked on cases where those dogs have located people six months after they disappeared," he said.
Besides checking the river, the dive team searched sloughs along the river and a large pond on Mape's Ranch. Helicopters flew over the California and Hetch Hetchy aqueducts looking for any sign of Laci Peterson.
Scott Peterson gave investigators a receipt last week from the Berkeley Marina where he said he went fishing. When asked during Monday's news conference if that eliminates him as a suspect, Ridenour said, "At this point, we are not ruling him or anybody out."Published 12/31/02
The handler for a bloodhound used to track the woman told police that she left her house in a car instead of by foot that day. Her car was parked in her driveway and her purse and cell phone were in the house when she was reported missing that evening.
Tuesday, police said it's becoming evident that the case involves foul play.Published 01/02/03
Modesto police on Thursday asked the public for help corroborating the story of a Modesto man who reported his pregnant wife missing Christmas Eve.
Police released photos of Scott Peterson's truck, boat and boat trailer, asking anyone who saw Laci Peterson's husband the two days before Christmas to call the Police Department.
Ridenour said forensic evidence has been taken from both Scott Peterson's boat and truck. The evidence was sent to a Department of Justice lab, Ridenour said, and it could take detectives as long as 60 days to receive the results.
Peterson told police that he launched his aluminum boat at the marina, then went northwest and fished around Brooks Island, said police Sgt. Ron Clow-ard, who is directing the search.
Late Saturday afternoon, searchers pulled something from the water, and Cloward later described what happened: "They pulled a tarp out of the water and found no one in it. It was nothing significant. It was just a tarp."
The California Rescue Dog Association is furnishing the dogs at the request of the California Office of Emergency Services, after Cloward asked for help.
The blue tarp searchers pulled from San Francisco Bay waters on Saturday afternoon will be brought to Modesto and evaluated by detectives, police Detective Doug Ridenour said.
"(The searchers) felt it was suspicious enough to take and have a look at it," Ridenour said. "But, at this point, investigators don't think it will turn out to be anything significant."
At least two search warrants have been served in the case, one at the Peterson home in the La Loma neighborhood and one at the Modesto warehouse that Scott Peterson used in his work as a fertilizer salesman.
Authorities have seized two vehicles and two computers, and an aluminum fishing boat and trailer.
Public works crews once again removed every manhole cover in East La Loma Park and around the Peterson home, without finding any evidence in the manholes.
Police said they have searched more than 100 miles of waterways, including canals, sloughs, rivers and creeks in Stanislaus County, and the California Aqueduct. The search could expand to Don Pedro and New Melones reservoirs in the foothills east of Modesto, Cloward said. He declined to say when, adding that he did not want search dogs to be distracted by the media.
At least two search warrants have been served in the case, one at the Peterson home in the La Loma neighborhood and one at the Modesto warehouse that Scott Peterson used in his work as a fertilizer salesman.
Authorities have seized two vehicles and two computers, and an aluminum fishing boat and trailer.
details about the searches -- and everything that police might have been looking for -- were unavailable. The files have been sealed, Ridenour said.
Michael Tozzi, executive officer of Stanislaus County Superior Court, said Thursday that police had not yet filed documents on what the searches might have uncovered.
"Because it's a pending investigation, the court will not verify any information until such time as that information becomes public record," Tozzi said.
At the marina, harbor master Ann Rial Hardinger said the mystery object was found close to the end of the old Berkeley pier, which is 2 1/2 miles long. Anglers said the water depth at the end of the pier is 12 to 17 feet.
The search zone covered some 2,200 square feet about 300 yards west of the end of the old Berkeley pier, extending some 2 1/2 miles into the bay.
Modesto police Sgt. Ron Cloward confirmed at 3:20 p.m. Saturday that a mystery object in San Francisco Bay had been identified as an anchor.
Divers did not retrieve the anchor, Cloward said.
"If we don't find a body, it usually means someone has gone to some lengths to conceal it for some reason. That certainly indicates sophistication.
"Wherever someone does go to dispose of a body, it's usually an area they're familiar and comfortable with. One of the questions we ask when we find a body is, 'Why here?' Sometimes if we can answer that question, it points us in the right direction."
January 17, 2003 @ 10:08:00 AM PST
Modesto police told Laci Peterson's family that her husband was having an affair and recently took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on her, a family member said Thursday.
Detectives met with Laci Peterson's side of the family Wednesday night to tell them why they believe Scott Peterson is responsible for the disappearance of his 27-year-old pregnant wife, the family member said.
Peterson took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on his wife last summer, after she got pregnant.
Peterson was having an affair with a woman in the Fresno area. Detectives showed family members pictures of Peterson and the woman posing together.
Since the case began, Peterson declined most interview requests, telling friends and family he wanted to keep the emphasis on his wife. Thursday, he talked to a reporter from Sacramento-area TV station KCRA.
"All of a sudden, Scott is talking to the media," the family member said. "He is realizing people are finding out about the girlfriend, so he'd better go out there and do some damage control."
He wanted his Del Rio (Country Club) membership."
Several days after Laci's disappearance, Peterson stormed out of a press conference when several reporters questioned police about the fishing trip. He has not attended any more press conferences, although he regularly has spent time at the volunteer search center.
He did not sit with family members at a vigil for his wife that was held on New Year's Eve. Instead, he mingled with friends and family in the crowd, laughing and smiling a good deal of the time.
Jan 2003
Friday, Peterson denied a report in The Bee that he was having an affair and that last summer he took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on his wife.
"Well, it's a bunch of lies," Peterson told San Francisco-Oakland television station KTVU. "So what are you to do?"
"Approximately two weeks ago, Ron Grantski, Laci's stepfather, asked Scott if he had a girlfriend," Kim Petersen said. "Scott told him no and Ron believed him. Now, however, they believe he has lied to them about this and possibly other things as well."
Peterson did not return calls to The Bee on Friday. He has not been named as a suspect in his wife's disappearance, but Police Chief Roy Wasden said Peterson has not been eliminated from the investigation.
In other developments:
Early in the investigation of his wife's disappearance, Peterson retained criminal defense attorney Kirk McAllister of Modesto. An investigator working for McAllister has interviewed La Loma-area residents this week in relation to a van reportedly seen in the neighborhood about the time Laci Peterson disappeared.
Wasden said detectives believe the van -- reportedly seen by several residents -- belonged to a landscaping crew.
Peterson, 30, denied the reports in an interview with a television reporter Friday, and said he was going to open up his own volunteer center and "find my wife and my kid."
They rented a home for a while before buying a fixer-upper on Covena Avenue in the La Loma neighborhood. Scott is a salesman for a specialty fertilizer company.
Initially, Scott refused nearly every media request for interviews, saying that he preferred to keep the focus on his wife and not himself. He broke his silence roughly at about the same time that reports surfaced about the affair and life insurance policy.
A 28-year-old Fresno woman said Friday she had a romantic relationship with Scott Peterson, whose pregnant wife has been missing since Christmas Eve.
Amber Frey spoke at a Modesto Police Department press conference Friday evening. In a halting voice, she said she met Peterson in November; he told her he was not married
On Dec. 30, Frey contacted police after seeing Scott Peterson's photo in reports regarding his wife's disappearance. She has been eliminated as a suspect in the investigation, Modesto Police Chief Roy Wasden said.
Scott Peterson did not answer his home or cell phone on Friday night, and he did not return messages seeking comment. Wasden said Peterson has not been eliminated from the investigation.
Friday night, Amber Frey, a 28-year-old single mother who lives in the Fresno area, came forward to say she had a romantic relationship with Scott after meeting him Nov. 20.
The revelation came during an emotional news conference at the Modesto Police Department. "When I was introduced to him, I was told he was unmarried," she told the media. "Scott told me he was not married."
He said Amber was hurt when Peterson told her he was not going to be around for Christmas: "He told her was going to Paris. Nobody leaves his girlfriend alone on Christmas.
"He told her that because of his job, he had to travel all over the country and that it was not unusual for him to be gone from home for up 30 days at time."
Frey said it was not easy for his daughter to come forward and contact Modesto police about her relationship with Peterson. He said he watched the Friday news conference on television.
Modesto police refused Tuesday to comment on Scott Peterson's claim that he told them Christmas Eve about his affair with Amber Frey.
Peterson also said he told his wife in early December about the affair, and added that he continued to see Frey after telling his wife about her.
During the interview, Peterson said he told police about Frey when they opened the missing-person investigation on Christmas Eve.
(GMA with Diane Sawyer)
Frey, a single mother whose 28th birthday is Feb. 10, went public Friday night about her relationship with Peterson, and said he told her that he was not married when they met Nov. 20. She said she notified police Dec. 30 after seeing Peterson in news reports.
He noted that there is no proof that his wife is dead. He added, though, that the possibility runs through his mind. "It's not one that we're ready to accept, and it creeps into my mind late at night and early in the morning.
"And during the day, all I can think about is the right resolution to find her."
He cried when talking about his frequent walks in East La Loma Park with his wife. He said he last saw her as she prepared to go to the park for a walk with the family dog.
He said he continues to walk the dog in the park because it was "our time."
Scott Peterson conducted several televised interviews at his home on Wednesday, address-ing numerous allegations and rumors surrounding the investigation into the disappearance of his wife, Laci.
By 5 p.m., more than a dozen TV trucks had set up camp near the Petersons' house on Covena Avenue in Modesto's La Loma neighborhood.
Both he and Laci have $250,000 life insurance policies, taken out two years ago. He called untrue a report that he took out such a policy on his wife only last summer.
His wife may not have opened the drapes Christmas Eve morning because it was probably 40 degrees outside, and keeping the drapes closed helps keep the house warm. Family members and neighbors have said that Laci Peterson opened the drapes every day.
He routinely cuts his hands in his work on farms. Peterson, a fertilizer salesman, made the comment and showed his hands in response to reports that police had found blood in one of his and Laci's vehicles.
He loaded large umbrellas to take to his warehouse on Christmas Eve. A neighbor reportedly saw Peterson putting something into a vehicle that day.
During the interview, Peterson described his marriage as "glorious" even though he admitted to cheating on his pregnant wife. "We took care of each other very well," he said. "She was amazing. She is amazing."
Asked about the baby boy due within weeks, he responded: "That was, it's so hard."
At his home, Peterson sat down with several news outlets. He went through the interviews alone, without an attorney.
Speaking with Gloria Gomez of Sacramento TV station KOVR, Peterson explained why he said he told his wife about his affair with Amber Frey: "It was the right thing to do. And, as you know, when you're not doing the right thing, it eats you up. You know you feel sick to your stomach and you can't function. And you have a hard time, you know, looking at someone."
He changed past-tense statements to present when he talked about his missing wife.
Tears surfaced regularly, but he cried without losing composure.
Another factor behavior specialists look at is eye contact. When asked difficult questions, such as, "Did you murder your wife?" and, "Did you ever hit her or injure her?" Peterson's eyes quickly shifted to the left and then back to Sawyer.
"On both occasions, he looked away, rather than looking her straight in the eyes," said Eric Hickey, a criminology professor at California State University, Fresno. "That doesn't mean he's guilty, but often when someone is harboring some kind of guilt, it's difficult for them to look a person in the eye."
Flint said there is no scientific proof that supports Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a practice that asserts a person's eye movement can indicate how a person is thinking, including when he or she is lying.
Story changes: (A Partial)
www.lacipeterson.com
Laci Peterson website
MODESTO, CA -- Laci Peterson, an attractive 27-year-old Modesto woman, has been missing since Christmas eve. Her husband, 30-year-old Scott Peterson, told family members and police that he went to his office at around 9:30 AM PST to get a few hours work done. He said his wife, Laci, planned to shop for dinner and then walk their aging golden retreiver, McKenzie, in nearby East La Loma Park.
Scott kept a 14-foot aluminum boat stored at his office, and after working there for a while he decided to hook it up to his truck and take a short fishing trip in the San Francisco Bay. He says he headed out toward the Berkeley Marina, some 85 miles away. He said he tried to call Laci from his cell phone during the day but could not reach her.
He said both cars were in the driveway, and Laci's purse and keys were in the house.
On December 23, 2002, at around 7:30 PM PST, Laci's half-sister, Amy, cut Scott's hair at her Modesto salon. Laci was with him. And on January 27, 2003, Amy confirmed that a video surveillance camera got Scott and Laci on tape there. Though police will not confirm it, it is believed that the visit to Amy's salon shown on that video is the last verifiable time that Laci was
About an hour later, Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, said she talked to her daughter at around 8:30 PM PST on December 23rd -- the night before she was reported missing. Police believe that that is the last ...
The repeated searching of the Berkeley Marina clearly indicated that police were looking long and hard at Scott and his alleged fishing trip there on the morning of Laci's disappearance. They published photographs of his truck and boat and asked the public to help them corroborate Scott's story.
Scott and Laci's house was searched. Her SUV, his truck and boat, and their computers were seized. And police have dug deeply into his background from every conceivable angle in the days since her disappearance
MPD:
http://www.modestopolice.com/laci/default.htm
On 12-24-02 at about 5:48 p.m., Modesto Police received a phone call from a man stating that his pregnant wife had not been seen since 9:30 a.m. that day.
Scott Peterson, of Modesto, left to the Bay Area to go fishing. His wife, Laci Denise Peterson, 26 years, eight months pregnant, stayed home to shop for dinner that evening and to walk their dog at East La Loma Park, commonly known as Dry Creek Park.
After Scott was done fishing, he tried to call Laci from his cell phone but did not reach her. When he arrived home, he discovered his dog in the back yard of his house with the leash still attached. There was nothing unusual found in the house to indicate anything had happened and Laci’s purse was still in the house. Scott and family members began searching the park for Laci and called the Police.
Modesto Police call for additional public assistance for Laci Peterson
http://www.modestopolice.com/laci/vehicle.asp
Vehicle pics
Laci Peterson's husband, Scott Peterson, reportedly last saw his wife at 9:30 on Christmas Eve morning. Scott left the family residence in his pickup truck, hooked the boat up at another location and went to a marina in Berkeley for a fishing trip. The truck is a 2002, Ford F150 pickup, bronze in color, with California license 6T59718. The boat is a 1991, 14-foot aluminum boat and trailer with a 15 horsepower outboard motor.
Police are trying to corroborate Scott's trip to the Berkeley area. Please contact Detective Craig Grogan at (209) 572-9551 if you can provide information that would assist in this matter.
He said Amber was hurt when Peterson told her he was not going to be around for Christmas: "He told her was going to Paris. Nobody leaves his girlfriend alone on Christmas.
I am the only one that finds it rather pathetic that this woman Amber would consider herself Scott's girlfriend after only knowing him a month? I consider that a casual, just getting started dating type of relationship.
MKM
The only new information I've read is on Jameson's WeBBsleuths forum, by LAcop. Oh, but that it were true!
Don't know when Scott's attorney dumped him. IF he did. But that's the rumor because Scott couldn't keep his mouth shut?
I LOVE the way MPD is handling this.
sw
Not sure, Laci's site says, "the Spainish owned co., Tradecorp..."
My info. comes from a friend of mine that knows Dennis Rocha but is most familiar with a brother or uncle of his. Even as a distant family member he is VERY upset about this case. Was talking to people early on in the case and asking, "yes, but did you see his (SP) picture? Doesn't he look guilty to you?"
When I mentioned the part about the employers from Portugal he imediately corrected me and said, "no, they are NOT from Portugal. They are NOT Portugese."
Tradecorp is based in Spain. I think this linked article is wrong in saying SP's boss came from Portugal. Of course, "Eric Van Innis" sounds Portugese to me....: )
That's news to me. Did they check those houses ? Also I see Scott driving a Dodge PU now. What happened to the Land Rover?
Are his pickup and boat still sitting in the impound yard or are they stored out of the weather? Has anyone posted a pic of his "warehouse"?
The pictures of him and Amber were first said to be at a company party, and then I read it was a fundraiser, and last it was a party at a private residence.
Reposting story
Fertilizer sales field tough, competitive
By RICHARD T. ESTRADA
BEE STAFF WRITER
Selling fertilizer would appear to be an easy job in the San Joaquin Valley, where agriculture is the No. 1 industry. But Scott Peterson faces a challenge every day he goes to work, trying to beat the odds in a lucrative, yet competitive, field.
He is the California-Arizona sales representative for Tradecorp, a Spanish company that produces fertilizer and sells it around the world. He works the wholesale end, marketing Tradecorp products to retailers.
Peterson is one of hundreds of chemical salespeople -- hawking everything from ammonia to zinc -- fighting for a slice of the valley's $15 billion agriculture industry.
"We're bombarded by salesmen with new products or products they say work better than what we're using," said Gary Layne of Simplot Soil Builders in Hughson. "A lot of times they're just blowing smoke, but they sound very convincing. That comes with this business."
It helps to have an armor-plated ego, valley chemical dealers say, because rejection is routine.
"There are sales guys for every chemical company out there, trying to make the same deals with the same customers," said Doug Doty, manager of the Western Farm Service outlet in Modesto. "There's a lot of competition."
Not only does Peterson have to try to outperform the competition each day, dealers say, he must do it with more expensive products. He markets premium fertilizers and minerals, including acids, iron, boron and other materials that are applied periodically to protect the valley's crops and help generate plentiful harvests.
Peterson's job is to spread Tradecorp's name through the ag community and get its products into the hands of farmers.
The company exports to 30 countries but has little presence in California. Few dealers carry the products, and those that do not said they have shown little interest in adding them.
Tradecorp's products target the horticulture, fruit tree and citrus segments, and its top markets include South Africa, France, Chile and Turkey.
One of the selling points used by Peterson is that the company's solid fertilizers break down quickly in water, allowing them to be carried to plants via drip and microirrigation systems.
While his ultimate customer is the farmer, Peterson spends more time in his car and in offices than he does on farms.
His role is to convince fertilizer dealers that they need to carry the products.
He has encountered some difficulty, dealers said, because many of his products are more expensive than available alternatives.
Tradecorp products cost 15 percent to 25 percent more than the average retail price for similar products, according to dealers.
He sells premium goods, dealers agree, but in this tight farm economy it is a challenge convincing farmers to spend more than they must.
Tradecorp backs Peterson
Traditional -- and cheaper -- materials might be slightly less effective, but dealers say that rarely is enough to justify a grower paying the higher price.
Tradecorp did not answer The Bee's requests for information about Peterson's performance. However, it appears that Peterson still is working for the company.
Eric Van Innis, Tradecorp executive director, visited Peterson in Modesto on Jan. 21 and said the company supports Peterson "100 percent."
Chemical dealers who previously were in contact with Peterson said they had not heard from him since his wife's disappearance Christmas Eve.
Peterson did not respond to requests to discuss his job.
Many dealers who have bought products from Peterson, or had been approached by him, declined to be identified for this story.
"It's a tragic story that no one wants to be linked to," one dealer said. "I've already taken calls about this, and I don't want to spend any more time with it."
But that does not mean that those in the industry do not talk about it.
"He's been a topic of conversation since we found out he's a fertilizer salesman," Doty said. "He's never come to our store to sell, but I've lost count of the people who asked me if I met him."
Bee staff writer Richard T. Estrada can be reached at 578-2316 or restrada@modbee.com.
Posted: January 30, 2003 @ 05:38:00 AM PST
Unless someone whats to do a NYSE search on trade, please post background info on Tradecorp, if they are listed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.