Things to Know About Jacob Wetterling"s Abduction

JACOB WETTERLING REMAINS FOUND (ONE DISAPPEARANCE FINALLY SOLVED!)

Photo: KSTP/File Jacob Wetterling was 11 when he was abducted Oct. 22, 1989.

September 03, 2016 03:18 PM

The 1989 abduction of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling from a deserted road has intrigued Minnesota residents and others around the country for more than two decades. Despite extensive searches, tens of thousands of leads and a reward offer, Jacob was never found. Now, sources tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the suspect in his disappearance led investigators to Jacob"s remains.

Here are things to know about the case: What Happened Jacob was riding his bicycle with his 10-year-old brother, Trevor, and a friend on Oct. 22, 1989, when a masked gunman abducted him near his home in St. Joseph, about 80 miles northwest of Minneapolis. The gunman was on foot, and no car was in sight. Authorities said the man held onto Jacob and threatened to shoot the other two unless they ran into the woods. Sheriff"s deputies, National Guard troops and hundreds of volunteers scoured the area but found no clues. The FBI released a personality profile of the type of person who may have kidnapped the boy - probably a previous s*x offender, a white man 25 to 35 years old and likely someone who worked at an unskilled job. A Frustrating Search Jacob"s disappearance generated more than 50,000 leads. Despite extensive publicity, repeated aerial and ground surveys and an initial reward of more than $100,000 after the kidnapping, state, local and federal authorities were frustrated by the lack of evidence. The seemingly unsolvable case remained open. In 2010, authorities spent two days searching and digging at a farm near where Jacob was last seen, but forensic tests on the items showed no link to the crime. Attention on Children In 1990, Jacob"s parents, Patty and Jerry Wetterling, founded what is now known as the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, which works to help communities and families prevent child exploitation. She later would chair the board of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Patty Wetterling would continue to speak passionately about making the world a safe place for children. And in 1994, Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Act, legislation for a s*x offender registry. "Person of Interest" Last year, authorities re-examined the case and said Danny Heinrich, of Annandale, was a "person of interest" in Jacob"s disappearance. He faces federal child p*********y charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty, but has denied any involvement in Jacob"s abduction, and has not been charged with that crime.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://kstp.com/news/jacob-wetterling-1989-kidnapping/4253770/

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Jacob Wetterling-Danny Heinrich link detailed in filing

JACOB WETTERLING ABDUCTION - CLUES LEFT BEHIND ?

A court document filed this week in connection with the federal child p*********y case against Danny Heinrich spells out why he is considered a person of interest in the kidnapping of Jacob Wetterling.

Daniel James Heinrich

The filing, part of a memorandum in opposition to Heinrichs motions to suppress evidence and change the venue of his upcoming trial, details the similarities between the Oct. 22, 1989, kidnapping of 11-year-old Wetterling; the Jan. 13, 1989, abduction and sexual assault of a 13-year-old Cold Spring, Minn. boy; and a string of sexually motivated assaults of young boys in the Paynesville, Minn., area in the mid- to late-1980s.

It has long been believed that the Cold Spring and Wetterling abductions were likely to have been committed by the same person, according to the memorandum, which was filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday. The abductions were committed in the same geographic area, involved similarly aged boys, were committed by a lone male suspect and occurred within months of each other.

Retested DNA evidence last year linked Heinrich to the 1989 kidnapping and sexual assault of Jared Scheierl in Cold Spring, nine months before Wetterlings abduction. The Pioneer Press typically doesnt identify victims of sexual assault, but Scheierl has spoken publicly for years about his case.

When law enforcement officials searched Heinrichs Annandale house in July, they found child p*********y and photos and videos of young boys. Heinrich was arrested in October and later charged with 25 counts of possessing and receiving child p*********y; he pleaded not guilty to those charges in February in U.S. District Court. His jury trial is slated to begin July 11 in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

Heinrich cannot be charged in connection with the Scheierl case because the statute of limitations in place at the time has expired. He also has not been charged in connection with the Wetterling abduction.

Jacob Wetterling, in a 1989 family photo

Wetterling was taken less than a mile from his home in St. Joseph, which is about 20 miles from Paynesville.

Heinrich was questioned in 1989 and 1990 about the disappearance, but authorities say he has denied any involvement.

Wetterling was riding his bicycle with his brother and a friend Oct. 22, 1989, when a masked gunman abducted him from a rural road. Authorities decided to take a fresh look at the case last year.

Although the kidnapping has generated more than 50,000 leads over the years, the crime remains unsolved and continues to haunt Minnesota law enforcement officers. It spurred new federal laws requiring states to create s*x-offender registries.

Jacobs parents, Patty and Jerry Wetterling, founded the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, which works to help communities and families prevent child exploitation, and Patty Wetterling became a national advocate for children.

Heinrichs attorneys, chief federal public defender for Minnesota Katherian Roe and assistant federal public defender Reynaldo Aligada, have asked that his trial be moved out of Minnesota and that evidence and statements be suppressed.

In Wednesdays filing, prosecutors asked the judge to deny the request for a change of venue, saying the defendant has made no showing that fair jurors cannot be found in Minnesota through a careful process of jury selection.

Prosecutors also said the defendants motion to suppress his collection of child p*********y should be denied because the evidence was seized pursuant to a valid warrant that was issued by a judge and based upon an affidavit supported by probable cause.

Statements made by Heinrich to law enforcement officers also should not be thrown out, prosecutors argued.

Officers are not required to provide Miranda warnings when a defendant is not in custody, according to the memorandum. Heinrich voluntarily accompanied police to his own residence and proceeded to engage in hours of conversation while sipping beer, sitting at a picnic table in his own back yard, having been told he was free to leave.

Heinrich also was not in custody when he invited officers inside his home and proceeded to speak with them at his own kitchen table, the memorandum states. No reasonable person would believe they were in custody in these circumstances.

Source: http://www.twincities.com/2016/06/02/jacob-wetterling-danny-heinrich-person-of-interest-detailed/

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