Star Tribune
St. Paul police connect remains in Coon Rapids storage locker to man charged in another killing
A missing 33-year-old woman’s body has been found in a Coon Rapids storage unit, and St. Paul police said Friday the discovery is connected to a man charged last week in a separate murder.
Fanta Xayavong’s remains were found Thursday, a week after Joseph Jorgenson was charged with the murder of Manijeh “Mani” Starren, 33, whose dismembered body was found in a different storage unit in Woodbury. Starren and Jorgenson had previously been in a relationship.
Family and friends last heard from Xayavong in July 2021. On May 25 of this year, a caller reported her disappearance to the human trafficking tip line of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), police Sgt. Mike Ernster said at a Friday news conference.
He said the caller was worried Xayavong was being trafficked and said she was in an abusive relationship with Jorgenson before her disappearance. Her last known residence was in Lakeville.
Investigators connected Jorgenson to a storage unit in the 9100 block of University Avenue NW. in Coon Rapids, where they found a person’s remains Thursday. On Friday, they were confirmed to be Xayavong.
“It’s nothing short of horrific,” Ernster said.
Her death has been ruled a homicide. Jorgenson is considered a “person of interest” but is not considered a suspect at this point. No charges have been filed.
On Friday, investigators searched a home in Shoreview where Jorgenson was living until September 2022, but Ernster did not disclose findings.
The case remains under investigation. Police have not determined where or when Xayavong was killed, Ernster said. He confirmed that Xayavong had been in a relationship with Jorgenson but did not say when they first met.
Police are now trying to determine if there are additional missing people or deaths possibly connected to Jorgenson.
Ernster and Chief Axel Henry urged anyone who knows missing people who may have known Jorgenson to call the BCA tip line at 877-996-6222 or email bca.tips@state.mn.us.
“We’re looking for people with any information to call us,” Ernster said. “If there is anything else out there, we want to know and try to make a difference for some other family that might be out there.”
Jorgenson is not currently connected to other missing person’s cases, Ernster said.
Jorgenson, 40, of Maplewood, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Starren, a St. Paul resident. On June 26, police arrested him after he reportedly barricaded himself in his apartment, started a fire inside and fought with police officers. His attorney did not return a call seeking comment Friday afternoon.
Starren’s family members first reported her disappearance May 1. They said she was last heard from April 18.
Video cameras at Starren’s apartment showed her on April 21 apparently running from Jorgenson before he caught up and pushed her back into the apartment. According to charges, he dismembered her body and carried the remains out in duffel bags.
A review of Jorgenson’s phone pinged activity at a different storage unit in Woodbury. Starren’s remains were found inside.
Henry offered his condolences to the victim’s families at the news conference. He added that “cases like this are extremely rare, but they are reminders to all of us that monsters can be real.”
Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.
When the Minnesota Supreme Court this week declined to hear an appeal by the University of St. Thomas regarding the environmental impact of its new hockey/basketball arena under construction, neighbor and arena foe Dan Kennedy said the “ethical” thing for the university to do was stop construction until neighbor concerns are addressed.
Not going to happen, university officials said Thursday.
While a public review of a revised Environmental Assessment Worksheet continues through Nov. 7, construction of the 5,000-seat Lee and Penny Anderson Arena continues. In an e-mail Thursday, a university spokesman said the arena is expected to be completed in fall 2025.
“The University of St. Thomas is aware of the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision to deny its petition to appeal and is reviewing the potential impacts of this decision,” an emailed statement from St. Thomas said. “Last week, the City of St. Paul published an updated EAW for public comment, and that process will continue. Construction of the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena will also continue, as permitted by law.”
But Kennedy said he believes that decision is not only wrong, but illegal. Because the state Court of Appeals this summer ruled the project’s first environmental review was inadequate, its site plans and building permits are invalid, said the president of Advocates for Responsible Development.
“We need somebody to specifically tell the University of St. Thomas that they must comply with the law,” Kennedy said. “This is an institution of higher learning, with a law school. They should comply with the law.”
Kennedy said he thought the Minnesota Court of Appeals had insisted on exactly that. In August, the appellate court ordered the city and university to conduct a new Environmental Assessment Worksheet. The previous assessment didn’t do enough to study the arena’s potential harm to the neighborhood’s parking, traffic and air quality, the court ruled.
“The reason why is that more sunlight in the morning time helps reinforce waking up, and having less light in the evening is less stimulation,” he said. “So when we’re winding down, preparing for sleep, having fewer hours of sunlight in the evening can help promote that process of falling asleep.”
Akingbola acknowledges that it can be sad to walk out of work or school when it’s already dark out, but in the long run, standard time is the way to go.
The U.S. already tried daylight savings year round in 1974
Despite the medical advice, there have been calls in recent years to make daylight savings time permanent.
Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, tried to pass a bill as recently as 2021 to make daylight savings time permanent, but it did not pass the Legislature.
The U.S. tried once before. According to Minnesota Star Tribune archives, due to an energy crisis, President Richard Nixon passed a law in January 1974 that made daylight savings a year-round thing.
A month into it, the Minneapolis Tribune ran an article saying there were calls to reverse the decision because there were more accidents in the pre-dawn darkness, particularly involving school children waiting for the bus. Under daylight savings time in January, sunrise wasn’t until well after 8 a.m. in Minnesota.
Karl-Anthony Towns may be in New York City, but his heart is in Minnesota.
On Wednesday night, Towns had some sweet seats for a Billie Eilish show at Madison Square Garden with his partner, Jordyn Woods, when she caught him watching the Timberwolves play the Chicago Bulls in a preseason game on his phone. Her video, posted to her Instagram story, made rounds on social media Thursday.
In the video, flames are literally spewing out from Eilish’s stage, lights are flashing all around and others in the crowd are head bobbing. And there is Towns, holding his phone in both hands and muttering to himself as the Timberwolves are down 88-75 late in the third quarter in a meaningless game.
“I promise he was enjoying the concert,” Woods wrote in the video’s caption.
The Wolves would go on to lose that game, 125-123. A nail-biter.
Towns’ trade to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle and others stunned the NBA world and all of Minnesota, where he was a beloved player for nine seasons and a leader on a team rapidly ascending toward championship contention.
“It was a lot of emotions,” Towns said. “Some amazing moments and times in nine years of my life in Minnesota, a place that I’ve called home. Guys who are not just teammates to me but brothers. We were like brothers. It definitely was a wild day, definitely coming to work.”
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