Body of missing man discovered in Cloquet

Between the time that 20-year-old Dakotah Abramowski was last seen on Jan. 5 and when he was reported missing Feb. 18, more than a foot of fresh snow had fallen, bringing the total amount of snow on the ground to close to two feet.

On Friday, March 31, police finally found Abramowski, deceased, his body lying in the back corner of a yard on the 700 block of Poplar Avenue, less than 500 yards from the apartment building where he was last seen.

Cloquet Police Commander Derek Randall said a homeowner was walking in her backyard Friday at approximately 2 p.m. and saw what looked like a shoe sticking up and someone lying on the ground and called 911 immediately. There had been a warm spell and rain, so lots of snow had melted by then.

"Looking at the slope in her yard, once the snow finally melted in the yard she was able to walk up the slope of the yard and saw the foot," he said. "Scary thing was that she had small kids playing in the yard with a [Frisbee]. They never saw anything, luckily."

A family member had reported Abramowski missing on Feb. 18. After investigating, police learned that Abramowski had not been seen since leaving his mother's apartment complex in the 600-block of Laurel Street on Jan. 5. His mother told police he appeared to be high that night.

Due to the freezing temperatures, Abramowski's body was well preserved, Randall said, adding that he was uncertain how soon the Midwest Medical Examiner's office will have the reports regarding cause of death and toxicology, which would reveal any chemicals in the bloodstream the night he died. That date remains unknown, another question the medical examiner might be able to answer. Randall said there were no obvious signs of trauma and Abramowski appeared to be wearing the clothes he was wearing that night.

However, temperatures were in the 20s the night the young man was last seen, Randall said, noting there was about 11 inches of snow on the ground Jan. 4. By Feb. 18, there was 22 inches, and it just kept falling, all month long.

Once the young man was officially reported missing, the Cloquet police department issued an alert noting that Abramowski was a "missing endangered person," asking for help from the public to find him.

Randall said they classified him as "endangered" according to department policy because he was under 21 when he went missing, and "under known dangerous circumstances."

"We knew some of the behavior and some of the people he was known to hang out with were not some of your most outstanding citizens," he said. "We knew of his history of substance abuse, so I believed that he was in some unhealthy circumstances, plus he'd been missing for more than 30 days."

The commander ran through more qualifying items, including the fact that Abramowski didn't have a habit of running away or disappearing, and he had been subject to threats or acts of violence.

"There was some info, drug-related, that we thought he might be jeopardy," he said. "That's what triggered the endangered status."

The search

The large amount of snow on the ground caused enormous problems once the search for Abramowski began, the police commander said.

They asked St. Louis County Search and Rescue to bring their cadaver dogs to help with the search, but the snow was too deep in the areas of interest. SLC asked them to pack down some of the trails with snow mobiles, but the machines got stuck.

"We spent most of a day just digging out snow machines," he said, adding that they eventually had to cancel bringing in the dog.

There was no way to walk the areas and search, as the snow was waist-high for most people.

"It was nearly impossible to search areas, and say with any certainty that we had covered the area," he said.

They asked the Minnesota State Patrol Air Wing to fly over, but the snow was too deep to see anything from a plane either. It was also too deep for horses with the Mounted Posse to cover.

So the police took their investigation inside. They collected DNA. They followed up on submitted tips. They notified the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's missing persons unit, which also put Abramowski on both a statewide and national missing person's database. They sent a crime alert network alert, which went out to other law enforcement agencies, and to places such as casinos, where someone might be spotted. They even notified Homeland Security and placed him on a no-fly list flag, in case he tried to leave the country.

Attempts to ping his cell phone didn't produce any viable leads, as Abramowski didn't have a cell phone on him that night and his previous number had been reassigned to a new owner. They checked Facebook and other social media.

"We essentially struck out on all of them," Randall said.

When the weather warmed up, they scheduled searches for this week with the St. Louis County drone team, but the discovery of the body came before those searches could commence.

What next?

Police are uncertain whether there was any foul play, and the investigation is ongoing, Randall said.

"We're still trying to figure out if a crime has occurred," Randall said. "We have some people of interest, who have either given us information or told us about other people who may know some of the information about what happened prior to his disappearance."

Anyone with information about Abramowski's activities or known associates is asked to call Commander Randall at 218-879-1247 or the Police Department's tip line by texting the word TIP CLOQUETPD followed by the tip to 888777. Anonymous messages may be left if desired.

As this issue of the Pine Knot News went to press Wednesday night, the cause of death and toxicology reports were still pending at the Medical Examiner's office.

Numerous agencies assisted or offered to help assist in the investigation, Randall said, including the previously mentioned agencies as well as the Fond du Lac Police Department, Carlton County Sheriff's Office, St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, the Duluth Police Department's Search and Rescue K-9 team and the Cloquet Area Fire District.

A gathering of friends and family for Abramowski is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Saturday, April 6, 2019 at the Headstart gym on the Fond du Lac Reservation.