Jacob Wetterling
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Jacob Erwin Wetterling (February17, 1978October22, 1989) was an American boy from St. Joseph, Minnesota, who was kidnapped from his hometown and murdered on October 22, 1989, at the age of 11. The identity of his abductor remained a mystery for nearly 27 years. On September 1, 2016, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) recovered human bones from a pasture near Paynesville, about from the site of the abduction. On September 3, Wetterling's family announced that the bones were those of Jacob, and local law enforcement stated that the identity of the bones had been confirmed by dental records. The location was revealed by Danny Heinrich, a long-time
person of interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...
in the abduction of another boy, 12-year-old Jared Scheierl, in the nearby town of Cold Spring. On September 6, 2016, Heinrich confessed to kidnapping and murdering Wetterling, as well as abducting and sexually assaulting Scheierl.Williams, Brandt
case-court-appearance Heinrich confesses to kidnapping, killing Jacob Wetterling
Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, KNOW-FM, News & Information, KSJN, YourClassical MPR and KCMP, The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper ...
, September 6, 2016.


Kidnapping

On Sunday, October 22, 1989, just after 9:00 p.m. (CDT), Jacob Wetterling (11), his younger brother Trevor Wetterling (10), and a friend, Aaron Larson (11), were biking home from a
convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...
in St. Joseph, Minnesota, where they had gone to rent a video. Danny Heinrich, wearing a stocking cap mask and armed with an unloaded
revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
, came out of a driveway and ordered the boys to throw their bikes into a ditch and lie face down on the ground. He then asked each boy how old they were. Jacob's brother was told to run toward a nearby wooded area and not look back or else he would be shot. Heinrich then demanded to view the faces of the two remaining boys. He picked Jacob and told Aaron to run away, threatening him as he had Jacob's brother. This was the last time Jacob was seen alive by anyone other than his captor.


Investigation

On January 13, 1989, roughly nine months before the Wetterling abduction, 12-year-old Jared Scheierl was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and physically threatened by an unknown adult man in Cold Spring, Minnesota. The victim's statement given on that night showed the ''
modus operandi A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as . Term The term is often used in ...
'' was similar to that of the Wetterling case: the perpetrator, who was later identified as Heinrich, used a gun and, upon releasing the boy, told him to run and not look back or else he would be shot. That incident occurred from where he would later stop the Wetterling brothers and their friend.


Person of interest

In May 2014, investigators confirmed that they were taking another look at a series of attempted and actual child molestations that had occurred in the Paynesville area in the two years preceding the Wetterling abduction. Between the summer of 1986 and the spring of 1987, five teenage boys were attacked, but no one was arrested. The authorities interviewed some of the victims again and worked with the Internet blogger who had brought the information to light. After months of research and interviews with some of the victims, investigators believed that these attacks were not random and that the culprit could be connected to the abduction of Wetterling, which occurred just 40 minutes from the other crime scenes.


Danny James Heinrich

In October 2015, Danny James Heinrich was publicly named as a
person of interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...
in Jacob Wetterling's disappearance. He had been questioned by the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
on December 16, 1989, and a DNA sample was taken, but he was not charged with a crime and was released. In 2015, Heinrich's DNA was matched to the DNA taken in the case of Jared Scheierl, who was abducted in nearby Cold Spring in January 1989 at the age of twelve. The
statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...
had expired for the Cold Spring kidnapping, meaning Heinrich could not be arrested and charged with that crime. A search warrant was issued and child sexual abuse material was found in Heinrich's house, leading to his arrest on October 28, 2015.


Plea and discovery

Heinrich decided to cooperate with authorities as part of a
plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...
and, on September 1, 2016, led investigators to a burial site. Jacob's clothing and human remains were unearthed from a pasture near Paynesville, about away from the Wetterling home and the abduction site and a short distance from where Heinrich was living in 1989. On September 3, the remains were confirmed through dental records to be Jacob's. His mother, Patty Wetterling, told television station KARE11, a local NBC affiliate, that the remains found were indeed Jacob's. She said: "All I can confirm is that Jacob has been found and our hearts are broken. I am not responding to any media yet as I have no words." In the plea agreement, Heinrich agreed to plead guilty to one count of the 25 federal child pornography charges brought against him. In addition to revealing the location of the body and pleading guilty, he also agreed to testify as to the details of the Wetterling crime. At a hearing before Judge John Tunheim of the
United States District Court for the District of Minnesota The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota (in case citations, D. Minn.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Minnesota. Its two primary courthouses are in Minneapolis ...
, Heinrich testified that he kidnapped and handcuffed the boy, drove him to a gravel pit near Paynesville, molested him, killed him and buried his body. Heinrich said that he was able to avoid police that night by listening to a police scanner. He said that he came back to the site a year later and moved the body after noticing that Wetterling's jacket had become exposed. During the court hearing, Heinrich also admitted to kidnapping and sexually assaulting Jared Scheierl earlier that year. In exchange for Heinrich's plea, the prosecutors agreed not to charge him with Wetterling's murder. In accordance with the plea agreement, Heinrich was sentenced to the maximum prison term of 20 years for the child pornography charge. In addition, the plea deal will allow state authorities to seek his civil commitment as a sexual predator at the end of his federal prison term, which could prevent him from ever going free. In sentencing Heinrich, Judge Tunheim said:
We won't pretend that this crime and sentence is about child pornography. It is also about changing the lives of so many children and parents, who prayed for Jacob's return, and also feared you coming out of the dark ... every child knows the story of Jacob Wetterling. You stole the innocence of children in small towns, in the cities of Minnesota and beyond.
Although Heinrich could be released in 17 years from the start of his prison sentence, Judge Tunheim told him that it was unlikely, as "this crime is so heinous, so brutal and awful that it is unlikely society will ever let you go free." In January 2017, Heinrich was transferred to Federal Medical Center, Devens, a federal prison in
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, to serve his 20-year sentence.


Legacy

Four months after Wetterling's abduction, his parents, Jerry and Patty Wetterling, formed the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, an advocacy group for children's safety. In 1994, the federal Jacob Wetterling Act was passed and named for Jacob.Wootson, Cleve R.
A Minnesota boy was kidnapped at gunpoint in 1989. Police have finally found his body.
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
, September 4, 2016.
It was the first law to institute a state sex-offender registry. The law has been amended several times, most famously by
Megan's Law Megan's Law is the name for a federal law (and informal name for similar state laws) in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Laws were created ...
in 1996 and the
Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act is a federal statute that was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on July 27, 2006. The Walsh Act organizes sex offenders into three tiers according to the crime committed, and mand ...
in 2006.Terry, Karen J. and Ackerman, Elissa R. "A Brief History of Major Sex Offender Laws", published in ''Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions'', table 3.2, p. 54. Springer Publishing Co (2014). In 2008, the foundation started by Jacob's parents became the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center. It carries on the work started by the Wetterling family "to educate the public about who takes children, how they do it and what each of us can do to stop it". The Bridge of Hope, a crossing of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
near St. Cloud, is named in Jacob's honor.


Connection between Heinrich and Duane Hart

After the arrest was made, media reported that according to a friend of the family both Heinrich and his brother were themselves sexually abused by a man then dating their mother, later convicted sex offender Duane Hart, when they were children. Hart has been described as a man who "would come along, if you were a single woman with kids, pretend he likes you and that would be it." Hart in turn had implicated Heinrich as early as 1991 regarding the Wetterling case when he told investigators Heinrich had asked him how to dispose of a body and that he had seen suspicious objects at his home. The information was apparently not followed up on at the time.


See also

* Disappearance of Joshua Guimond *'' In the Dark'', an
American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...
-produced
podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
that devoted its first season to the Wetterling case and the Stearns County Sheriff's Office's failure to properly investigate and follow up on leads. *
List of solved missing person cases Lists of solved missing person cases include: * List of solved missing person cases: pre-1950 * List of solved missing person cases: 1950–1999 * List of solved missing person cases: post-2000 See also

* List of kidnappings * List of murder ...


References


External links

* Baran, Madeleine (2016). ''In the Dark''.
American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...
. *
Article
(December 30, 2016); *
Podcast

Jacob Wetterling Resource Center

Jacob Wetterling's listing
with the Polly Klaas Foundation. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wetterling, Jacob October 1989 crimes in the United States 1980s missing person cases Missing person cases in Minnesota 1989 murders in the United States Sexual assaults in the United States 1989 in Minnesota Incidents of violence against boys 1980s kidnappings in the United States Child murder in Minnesota