I Remember Susie Jaeger ~ Mindy Peltier (2024)

My childhood was magical until I experienced the kidnapping of Susie Jaeger. I never had the privilege of meeting her, but I’ve never forgotten her.

Every summer day was an adventure waiting tounfoldfor my five siblings and me in the cozy mountain town of Helena, Montana. Under the watchful care of Mount Helena and the Sleeping Giant, we explored from the perch of our Schwinn banana seat bikes, the playing cards clothespinned in our spokes leaving a clickety echo trail. We swam at the Municipal Pool, fished at the Fairgrounds, and enjoyed $.25 movies at the Circus Twin Theatre.

We collected aluminum cans for $.25 a pound to buy candy at Terry’s Convenience store. Biking home down the steep Lamborn Street was perilous because our legs couldn’t keep up with our pedals. With legs extended stiffly sideways and lips pressed together against bugs, we hoped no cars would enter the traffic from the side streets. We also crossed our fingers that our brakes would work at the bottom of the hill.

We slept outside in the backyard in our sleeping bags. Green apples were stolen from Mr. Beaver’s tree, sprinkled with salt, and devoured. Lemonade was sold and cold treats were bought from the Snow Cone Lady.

With over twenty kids in our block, there were usually enough to play baseball in the empty field in the next block over. Nearly every night we’d play and grumble over calls until we could no longer see the ball.

The June 25, 1973 disappearance of Susie Jaeger shattered my eight-year-old world of laughter and innocence. She was camping at the Missouri Headwaters near Three Forks with her family when an intruder cut open the tent and kidnapped her in the middle of the night.

The nightly news became part of my routine, hoping to hear that the adorable gap-toothed seven-year-old would be returned to her parents. We grew suspicious about strangers and our parents rehearsed safety strategies, like cramming in a phone booth if we felt endangered. We walked in worried huddles, fingering coins for the payphone in the pockets of our jean cut-offs.

At times we joked about things, but only to cover the new emotion we didn’t know how to handle utter fear.

How could THAT happen?

WHY?

There were several more kidnappings and murders that summer, but they’ve blurred together in an uncertain fear-colored haze. Her disappearance marked a chasm in my timeline, separating the idyllic childhood and the reality of living in a fallen world.

As a child, I deeply identified with Susie, but when I became a parent I relived the experience anew as I identified with her mother, Marietta.

My husband andI moved to Wichitaand discovered we werein the territory of theBTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) Killer. The police sketch staredunblinking in the apartment laundry room and from grocery store bulletin boards.Welater discovered good friendsgrew upplaying in the empty field behind his Park City house.

We lived out in the country for the first twelve years of our marriage, but when we moved into town, I wasn’t sure how to handle it. What was safe? How far could they walk? What size of a group made it safe? I daily muffled my fears with reasonable decisions to give my kids their own idyllic childhoods. But, allowing my children out in the world felt like that bike ride down Lamborn Street.

Theywalked to the skating rink and skated alone.They rodetheir bikes and roller-bladed. They playedbaseball in thepark and picnicked on the front lawn. I peeked out the windows, checked on them often, and prayed.

I drilled safety precautions. When our girls got jobs they were given mace for their key chain. When one daughter started running I pushed aside my fears, even though the police website showed 25 sex offenders within a mile radius, a few Level III within a few blocks.

Sheonce claimed, “Mom, by the time you let us go around the block by ourselves, it was because we were driving in a car.”

I laughed at her exaggeration, but I knew shehad felt my fear. Kids kept disappearing and grief etched theirnamesnext to Susie’s on my heart.

Jacob Wetterling disappeared in Minnesota while riding home from the store with a friend.
Nancy Shoemakerwalkeda block and a half to a 7-11 to buy 7-Up for a sick brother and never came home.
Jeanna North disappeared while roller-skating in Fargo, ND.
Leanna Warner from Chisholm, MN disappeared walkingto a friend’s housetwo doors away.

Because I knew that even when parents do the right things, as the parents of all these beloved children did, they still couldn’t protect them from evil.

And as I reviewedSusie’s lifestory through news articles, my life has again been touchedbecause herlife left several profound impacts.

During the investigation of her disappearance, FBI Agent Peter Dunbar utilized the new method called “offender profiling” that was developedby Howard Teten and Patrick Mullany. This is now a standard crime-solving procedure and has helped solve many similar hideous crimes.

Susie’s mother preaches a much-needed message in this world. After agonizing through her horrific loss, Marietta made a conscious decision to forgive and daily sought to walk in that peace instead of allowing fear and anger to destroy her. The killer called on the first anniversary of the kidnapping to taunt and torment her. Faced with her calmness and her offer of forgiveness, along with an FBI tape-recorder, killer David Merihofer exposed enough details to be caught. He later confessed to several other murders before committing suicide. Marietta’s forgiveness brought not only peace to her life, but safety to others.