by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
A car seen at the site where the body of Tom Bearson of Sartell was found apparently had nothing to do with the death of the North Dakota State University student.
Two weeks ago, Moorhead police released to the media a video and still frames from a video, hoping someone in the public could identify the dark, four-door vehicle.
Last week, police say someone called to identify that car, which was a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The car’s owner was identified and contacted and had a reason for being at that lot that evening.
The car was recorded on a business video surveillance system while driving to and from an area near a recreational-vehicle business in south Moorhead. The car was recorded at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20, 2014, the evening of the same morning when Bearson was last seen in Fargo. Three days later, Bearson’s body was found on a grassy patch by that RV business.
Investigators had no reason to believe that car’s presence in the video had anything to do with Bearson’s murder, but they decided to check it out, just in case. Investigators, as well as Moorhead and Fargo police said they will continue to pursue the Bearson case vigorously until a suspect or suspects in the murder are arrested, prosecuted and sentenced.
Bearson, a first-year nursing student at NDSU, died as the result of “homicidal violence,” but authorities will not yet release the cause of his death because the investigation is continuing. He was last seen in a Fargo neighborhood at about 3:30 a.m. Sept. 20.