Fogelstrom said investigators deceived them

By: TIM MAYER - Staff Writer | Thursday, August 5, 2004 10:24 PM PDT ∞

CARLSBAD ---- The father of the teenage companion of 17-year-old Eric Sears ---- who was found dead in Joshua Tree National Park last month ---- said Thursday that investigators have presented a concoction of events and statements involving his son that are either false or taken out of context.

"They coerced, badgered and intimidated Ben until he didn't know what he was saying," said Joe Fogelstrom, the father of Ben Fogelstrom, 17.

"I feel like a sucker. Our kid trusted us, and we put him in the hands of these (investigator) guys."

Fogelstrom said an affidavit released Monday by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department was based in part on a polygraph exam of his young son that was obtained under false pretenses. The affidavit was used to obtain a warrant to search their Carlsbad home.

Fogelstrom said the polygraph exam was done without parents or an attorney present.

No charges have been filed against Ben and law enforcement officers have said he is not a suspect, but investigators said in the affidavit that they were looking into the possibility that Eric had been murdered.

School friends who graduated in June from Carlsbad High, Ben and Eric went camping and hiking July 14 in the rugged Joshua Tree National Park, according to members of both families. Ben reported his friend missing the following afternoon.

Ben told investigators and his father that on the evening of July 14 he and Eric had consumed a tea made from Jimson weed, the source of a powerful, dangerous hallucinogenic drug. The weed, which is not listed as an illegal drug, is common throughout Southern California and much of the rest of the country.

Searchers found Eric's body about 1.5 miles southeast of their campground July 23. And the Riverside County Sheriff's Department reported that an autopsy did not show any obvious signs of trauma.

Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Earl Quintana reiterated Thursday that Ben was not and is not a suspect.

The cause of Eric's death has not yet been determined, and Quintana said the results of toxicology tests are not expected for four more weeks. He said the investigation will not end until the test results are received.

"We have to get all the facts before any determination is made," he said. He said he had no comment on Fogelstrom's allegations.

Fogelstrom said that under the advice of their attorney, Ben will not be allowed to make a statement until that investigation is concluded.

Fogelstrom said he was frustrated by the length of time taken for the investigation and the way the actions of investigators have cast suspicion on his son.

"What we do know is they found Eric and there was no foul play," he said. "Why did these (investigators) manufacture a crime and then manufacture a suspect? And why didn't they focus more on finding Eric?"

In the affidavit, Fogelstrom said investigators portrayed the actions of both he and his son as suspicious.

The affidavit quoted one investigator as saying he did not believe Ben was under the influence of a drug and that he "demonstrated selective memory loss," gave conflicting accounts of events, and changed his story.

Fogelstrom said the affidavit was not true and that statements he witnessed by Ben to investigators and rangers remained consistent. Those included that he suffered a series of strange hallucinations and believed he last saw Eric about noon July 15 at the southeast edge of the campground ---- the same direction in which Eric's body was eventually found.

Fogelstrom said Ben told him that he and Eric consumed the tea about 8 p.m. July 14. He said that when he drove to the site and saw his son at 9 p.m. the next day, he was dehydrated, had dilated eyes and had imagined that he had seen and talked to his father and other family members earlier in the day.

"He was positive (we were there earlier), and we weren't," Fogelstrom said.

According to the affidavit, Fogelstrom was seen by an investigator, while he and Ben were being "escorted" from the campground, reaching into Eric's truck ---- still parked at the campground ---- and removing a knife.

Fogelstrom said that's not true. He said he and Ben were taken to the truck by an investigator and park ranger so Ben could identify items in the vehicle. When Ben was searching through his duffel bag, he found an old camping knife, he said.

He said Ben asked the investigator and ranger if it would be OK to take the knife, and they told him yes, Fogelstrom said.

"It was the only thing they would let him take," Fogelstrom said. "He wanted to take the whole duffel bag. He hadn't had a change of clothes in two days, and they said no."

Fogelstrom said his family left the site the afternoon of July 16 after a park ranger told them they would do more good returning to Carlsbad, calling Eric's friends, and spreading the word about the disappearance on the off chance Eric had either returned on his own or been taken by someone to Carlsbad.

Fogelstrom said he, his wife, Valerie, and Ben drove to San Bernardino on July 18 at the request of investigators who told them they had found items in the desert that they needed Ben to identify.

But when the family arrived, investigators suggested that a polygraph test of Ben might help him remember more of the incident, the father said.

During the exam, Fogelstrom said he was told, Ben would "create the questions to ask so maybe it would jolt Ben's memory about which direction Eric went."

"The polygraph (idea) seemed weird, but I said anything we can do to help as long as Ben has a say in it and his mom's there," Fogelstrom said. "Well, Ben didn't have a say in it and his mom wasn't there."

As it turned out, Fogelstrom said that after he left, Ben was taken into another room, where he was questioned for about four hours, and his mother was left in the locked reception area unable to go to her son. Fogelstrom said he left to drive a pair of neighborhood kids back to Carlsbad.

Fogelstrom said his wife reported that by the time she was allowed to see Ben again, "he was crying, he was upset, he was traumatized."

"He told Valerie, 'They made me say stuff, Mom. They made me say stuff that wasn't true.'"

"We believed them and we trusted them," Fogelstrom said. "They used that trust to get Ben in a back room to interrogate him, to just hammer him."

Fogelstrom said after that the family was advised by friends not to talk to anyone.

"They told us, 'They (investigators) are out to get your son.' "

Because of that, Fogelstrom said, his family was unable to tell their story to the community and felt unable to attend the nightly candlelight vigils for Ben held outside the Sears family home.

"Throughout this, and no matter how it's been for us, our main concern is for the Sears family," he said. "We still miss Eric."

Contact staff writer Tim Mayer at (760) 901-4043 or tmayer@nctimes.com.