How unbelievable and sad! This wasn't featured on UM (which always surprised me) but a very highly publicized case so I thought I would post.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/remains-jacob-wetterling-minn-boy-missing-1989-found-article-1.2776931

Wow. I'm glad he's been found and they have the perpetrator in custody. But what a senseless tragedy :(

This breaks my heart for the Wetterling family. I hope they can finally get some kind of closure.

I always wondered why the other boys who were assaulted in that area and time were eventually let go but Jacob never was.

Thoughts and prayers for the Wetterlings. :(

OMG...this is just heartbreaking and terrifying. I'm so thankful that the investigators didn't give up and got him to confess.

I've always been hopeful that Jacob's case would be solved, but never really thought it would happen.

Link (http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Things-to-know-about-1989-abduction-of-Minnesota-9201889.php)


Things to know about 1989 abduction of Minnesota boy
Jeff Baenen, Associated Press Updated 2:58 pm, Saturday, September 3, 2016


http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/51/36/11/10871414/3/920x920.jpg

This Nov. 3, 2015 photo shows the area where 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted in Oct. 1989 in St. Joseph, Minn. Patty Wetterling, the mother of Jacob Wetterling said Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016 that his remains have been found. Danny Heinrich, who authorities have called a person of interest in the 1989 kidnapping, denied any involvement and was not charged with that crime. But he has pleaded not guilty to several federal child pornography charges. Photo: Jeff Baenen, AP / ap
Photo: Jeff Baenen, AP

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — 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, his mother said in a text message to KARE-TV on Saturday that Jacob "has been found and our hearts are broken."
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 sex 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 sex 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 pornography 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.

I never thought I'd see this day! I remember when he was kidnapped so well. I can't believe Heinrich actually broke down and led them to remains! I feel so bad for the family but at the same time I'm glad they don't have to have that nagging little "what if" in the back of their minds forever. It's a shame it took this long, but I'm just glad they have some answers, with hopefully more coming.

Apparently the guy worked out some kind of plea deal with his child porn charges - sounds like he may not even be charged with Jacob's kidnapping and murder. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Apparently the guy worked out some kind of plea deal with his child porn charges - sounds like he may not even be charged with Jacob's kidnapping and murder. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

What?!?! That's crazy! A deal on the porn and the kidnapping/murder? I wonder if authorities ever talked about this with the Wetterlings... like what was more important to them, etc... or if they just decided they wanted the answers. I guess it makes sense they did give him some kind of deal. He was probably going to be in jail the rest of his life on the CP charges, he didn't really have any incentive to give up any information and I highly doubt he just grew a conscience overnight.

I never thought I'd see this day! I remember when he was kidnapped so well. I can't believe Heinrich actually broke down and led them to remains! I feel so bad for the family but at the same time I'm glad they don't have to have that nagging little "what if" in the back of their minds forever. It's a shame it took this long, but I'm just glad they have some answers, with hopefully more coming.

That's the only bright side in all of this. They have answers and they no longer have to live in the dark about where he is and what really happened to him.

I'm kind of interested in hearing statements from Jacob's brother Trevor and his friend Aaron. Think of the hell those two have been through, living every day being relieved they weren't "chosen" but having survivor's guilt and knowing you had no choice but to leave Jacob with that monster. :(

This made news in Australia as well. When I saw the photo I thought for a split second it was Jeremy Bright!

http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/remains-of-missing-boy-found-almost-27-years-after-he-was-snatched-by-gunman/news-story/85efb2415e82dff35f1ed0723169dd60

Tragic as this is at least the Wetterling family can give their son a proper burial. :(

Tragic but also a great relief to Jacob's brother and friend. When this happened my dad found the whole story of a masked man jumping out of nowhere in a remote area so incredible he believed probably the boys didn't want to admit they had been in an accident which proved fatal to Jacob so concocted a kidnapping story. They never wavered from their account no matter who tried to sway them. They have now been vindicated as telling the truth. I believed them all along, especially after seeing the brother on TV years later break down in tears recounting the event.

It wasn't on UM, but it was on The Hunt with John Walsh recently.

Sad ending, but now at least the parents no longer have to torture themselves with the slim hope that he might come back. Now they know his fate.

http://northwrightcounty.today/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/IMG_0291-300x300.jpg

A side-by-side comparison of he sketch of the suspect and on the right is Daniel Heinrich.

They do look similar, but Heinrich would have been 28 when Jacob was kidnapped and the first picture based on that age. I guess he just looked old before his time. I mean there doesn't seem to be any doubt it was him, and he was wearing a nylon over his head which probably distorted his features, so it's probably actually a pretty good likeness. He just didn't age well. He's what, 55 now? He looks older than my mom who is 66. probably just always looked old.

This is more accurate. The picture is of him just a couple months after Jacob's abduction.

http://media.mwcradio.com/mimesis/2015-10/30/daniel%20heinrich%20older%20sketch%20photo%20(wcco)_jpg_475x310_q85.jpg

This case hits me especially hard. I grew up in Minnesota and I am only a few years older than Jacob. I have a lot of relatives in the St. Cloud and St. Joseph areas. I dated a girl who grew up with Jacob and he was her "first kiss".

When this happened, it sucked the innocence out of Minnesota. This was not the first kid to be abducted, but the nature and location made it especially weird and scary. Most of us assumed he would be returned. I remember all the yellow ribbons and signs that said "Jacob's Hope." For many nights people all over Minnesota left their porch lights on for Jacob, as a sign of unity and a way to say "Come home, Jacob." For a long time after this, parents kept a much tighter watch over their kids, and probably still do here. I know I was never the same after this.

Jacob's mom, Patty, became a well-known advocate for missing kids in Minnesota and across the nation. I have always felt very sorry for her, and yesterday my heart broke for her and her family all over again. While I am very happy they have closure, I am devastated that they now have to plan the funeral for their 11-year-old little boy 30 some years later.

I am very interested to hear the final resolution of this and how they got the suspect to give up his location. If you read up on this, they have him pegged for other abductions and attempted abductions in the same area over the years. What makes me want to rage is that they have physical evidence against him in another abduction but couldn't prosecute due to "statute of limitations." WTF?!? How can there be a statute of limitations for kidnapping and sexual molestation???

It was a sad day yesterday and we will continue to mourn Jacob, but at least we know where he was all these years. And last night, with tears in my eyes, I turned on our porch light (along with many others) one final time, to show our support and love for a little boy who never got to come home...

RIP, Jacob.

Wow! I was just reading and watching stuff on this case last week....and thought it would never be solved. It's all very sad, but at least the family now knows what happened. I don't believe anyone ever gets "closure", but I do believe we learn to work through it.

Yes, there's finally some resolution and it's basically solved. I never expected him to still be alive because of the way the abduction occurred.

One of my questions would be do you think this POS Heinrich guy had a vehicle elsewhere that the kids just didn't see? I can't imagine him being able to do the horrible things he did to Jacob and then go unseen for 20 miles on foot to wherever that burial spot is located.

One of my questions would be do you think this POS Heinrich guy had a vehicle elsewhere that the kids just didn't see? I can't imagine him being able to do the horrible things he did to Jacob and then go unseen for 20 miles on foot to wherever that burial spot is located.

This was at an open field in rural Minnesota with no streetlights. The boys had to use flashlights while riding their bikes to and from the convenience store. Heinrich could have parked his car many places and the boys wouldn't have seen it, unfortunately.

Heinrich abducted another local boy several months earlier, raped him in his car and then let him go. I imagine that was the same deal here but the never ending question is why did Heinrich let him go (as well as the other boys he's suspected of doing the same thing to) but not let Jacob go? :(

Heinrich is the only one that knows the answer to that. Maybe Jacob Wetterling tried to fight back more than the other victims or maybe after Heinrich assaulted him and was going to let him go, Jacob might have said that he was going to tell the authorities what had happened, going against Heinrich's threats. Or maybe he just decided to take his depravity to another level with Wetterling for his own sick personal reasons.

This article has details of the kidnapping from Heinrich's appearance in Federal court today.

He did have a car. He had a gun and a mask. Handcuffed Jacob. Jacob asked what he did wrong. Sexually assaulted him. Had him turn his head and shot him. Buried him one place, later drove by and saw part of his jacket sticking out of the ground, so he moved him to where he was found last week.

Any plea deals were made with the blessing of the Wetterling family. He plead guilty to the CP charges, and admitted what he did to Jacob. Most likely he will spend time in a "Better" federal prison rather than a state one, as his deal for admitting what he did.

http://www.fox9.com/news/202588793-story

This article has details of the kidnapping from Heinrich's appearance in Federal court today.

He did have a car. He had a gun and a mask. Handcuffed Jacob. Jacob asked what he did wrong. Sexually assaulted him. Had him turn his head and shot him. Buried him one place, later drove by and saw part of his jacket sticking out of the ground, so he moved him to where he was found last week.

Any plea deals were made with the blessing of the Wetterling family. He plead guilty to the CP charges, and admitted what he did to Jacob. Most likely he will spend time in a "Better" federal prison rather than a state one, as his deal for admitting what he did.

http://www.fox9.com/news/202588793-story

So the Wetterlings and the Scheierl families both signed off on the plea deal.

And in the end, the only charge Heinrich will be punished with is one count of possession of child pornography. That means the earliest he could be out of jail is in five years? At worst he'll be released from jail at age 73? Some justice. There are no words. :mad:

I followed the coverage of the hearing online and on the radio. It was horrifying. I kept feeling like I was going to burst into tears and/or throw up. I can't imagine being the family or anyone in the courtrroom as that monster described what he did to that poor little boy.

While I'm angry that he is only getting 20 years in prison (and could potentially go free one day), I have to weigh the family's desire to learn where their son's body was and what happened to him. Hell of a choice: do you want to punish the likely perp bad for child porn, or do you want the truth? You can't have both.

It makes me more sick to know this monster was alive preying on little boys all over central Minnesota for years. What a piece of crap. Maybe he will get a little prison justice...

In the meantime, we need to work hard to protect our kids and stop these kind of perps before they hurt children. Please pray for Jacob and the Wetterling family. While they have closure, they have a whole new world of grief to deal with.

There are two items from that hearing that will forever haunt me:

1. When Heinrich handcuffed Jacob and he said "What did I do wrong?"

2. After he was molested, Jacob said he wanted to go home. Heinrich told him he wasn't going home and Jacob started to cry.

The details of this were so bad that a radio reporter broke down trying to repeat it on the radio.

Jacob was 11-years-old, with his brother and a friend, on the way home from renting a movie. He had no idea of the horror that awaited him. Damn.

There are two items from that hearing that will forever haunt me:

1. When Heinrich handcuffed Jacob and he said "What did I do wrong?"

2. After he was molested, Jacob said he wanted to go home. Heinrich told him he wasn't going home and Jacob started to cry.

The details of this were so bad that a radio reporter broke down trying to repeat it on the radio.

Jacob was 11-years-old, with his brother and a friend, on the way home from renting a movie. He had no idea of the horror that awaited him. Damn.

That is devastating. This wasn't something that unfolded and ended very quickly. There was a 30 mile drive to the murder site with that monster... in the dark. The fear he must have felt lingered on and on before the dreaded moments. :(

I can't imagine the fear Jacob went through in that last hour or so of his life. It was so hard to hear how innocent those kids were, offering Heinrich the VHS tape they had just rented, Jacob asking if he did something wrong... Heinrich is a monster. I hate that he will get such a small sentence and not have to officially pay for Jacob's murder, but I am sure it was more important to the family to know what happened to Jacob and I can't blame them for that. Hopefully Heinrich will get some prison justice or street justice if he ever gets out. I hate to advocate harm to someone but this guy doesn't deserve another day on this planet. He's already had too many.

There are two items from that hearing that will forever haunt me:

1. When Heinrich handcuffed Jacob and he said "What did I do wrong?"

2. After he was molested, Jacob said he wanted to go home. Heinrich told him he wasn't going home and Jacob started to cry.

The details of this were so bad that a radio reporter broke down trying to repeat it on the radio.

Jacob was 11-years-old, with his brother and a friend, on the way home from renting a movie. He had no idea of the horror that awaited him. Damn.

We all know I'm a mommy, as I've mentioned Mini Ricci on here numerous times. I'm in TEARS after reading that. I don't need to listen to the audio of the hearing. I've heard enough.

May he finally rest now.

I know, and his family.

I teared up listening to Patty at the press conference after DH's testimony and confession. She said Jacob was alive to them until he was found. I just can't imagine how hard it was to have to listen to that. She was so gracious and thanked Jared for coming forward. I don't know how she could stay so composed. She is a class act, that is for sure. No one deserves what happened to that family.

When I first read the whole confession, it brought tears to my eyes, especially when he said Jacob asked, "What did I do wrong?". Why did Jacob have to die? What about this time made Danny kill his victim instead of releasing him? My heart aches.

Heinrich had a police scanner with him and also I think he actually heard a cop car with sirens at one point. It sounds like he had planned to drop him near his home, but he panicked, loaded his revolver, and shot him at that point.

This one is too much for me. I've been in tears myself. I'm a middle school teacher and I kept looking at my 6th graders today, thinking that once Jacob was one of them. Patty's strength is nothing short of miraculous.

Relieved. For the Wetterlings, while I agree there is never "closure" at least they now have Jacob's remains back and can provide them a proper resting place.

A horrible deal with the sickest of the devil's minions. I can't imagine having to make that choice. There is some relief that this case is so well known and this horrible thing may have it's sentence extended.

The details are consistent with what I though happened and hopefully this case has had positive outcomes.
1. The sex offender registry
2. Better awareness that horrible crimes can and do happen in seemingly "safe" communities
3. Knowledge that Jacob was taken to an area close to where the predator lived.I think this will be helpful in that search efforts can be focused in those areas where a predator lives especially in case where there is a stranger abduction.

There is a very good podcast on this case called "In the Dark" that just came out this week. You can find it on iTunes or at this website. (http://www.apmreports.org/in-the-dark)

Funny enough, they had been advertising this podcast for a few weeks and they were pumping it with "It's been 27 years... Why hasn't this case been solved?" Then days before the premier, Jacob's remains were located and the suspect confessed. I honestly wondered if they were still going to issue the podcast or not. They went back to re-edit portions of it and update it with the current information.

The first two episodes were good. They seem to be focusing on law enforcement and the poor investigation that took place. We know now that Jacob was dead within hours so it likely wouldn't have mattered, but according to this it took them a while to get some key information.

There are a few interesting things like a man who lived near the abduction site who was a suspect for years and had his life turned upside down because of this. A good article on that can be read here. (http://www.startribune.com/unsealed-court-documents-detail-search-for-jacob-wetterling/392899791/)

Another piece that they are heavily pumping in the podcast is that Danny Heinrich was possibly attacking kids well before this crime and should have been known to the police. We will see how this plays out in the podcast.

I read an old Reader's Digest piece on this case just a couple of weeks before this news broke. I'm grateful that the family now has closure, but ugh. :( Heartbreaking.

The first anniversary since learning the truth is rapidly approaching.

So the Wetterlings and the Scheierl families both signed off on the plea deal.

And in the end, the only charge Heinrich will be punished with is one count of possession of child pornography. That means the earliest he could be out of jail is in five years? At worst he'll be released from jail at age 73? Some justice. There are no words. :mad:

There is always the possibility of Heinrich receiving prison justice - the kind that is administered by an inmate. Child killers and child molesters are hated even by other inmates, so he will have to look over his shoulder from now on, not knowing if or when someone will do him in.

The podcast is very, very intriguing. At this point, when we know what happened that night, everything is in hindsight 20/20 vision. Dan Rassier, despite being very high on the suspect list for many years, had nothing to do with the abduction and murder. The mysterious man at the Tom Thumb who appeared to be glaring at customers was not the perpetrator. And now, if the witnesses who lived on that dead end road are to believed, Danny Heinrich had been prowling that neighborhood all summer.

I've been thinking about this case a lot since this bombshell a few weeks ago. While we know now what happened to Jacob and who committed this horrendous crime, there's still some questions I have about it. For one, Danny Heinrich was a member of the National Guard. The National Guard came out on October 28th. I wonder if he was apart of that search party. There were reports of a mysterious white or light colored van the following summer with the driver taking pictures of kids at a lake. Was that also Heinrich or another abductor entirely? I've been reading Joy Baker's blog about this case, and she's touched base a little on another mysterious character in this story, someone at the Tom Thumb who said he was a "medical cop." It probably doesn't mean anything, but I find it odd that he was there shortly after the abduction and then was also seen by Kevin, who had briefly turned into Rassier's driveway the night before, the following morning. Who was this dude? As far as Heinrich, did he have any more victims beyond Jacob? I did a quick search through the Charley Project and was unable to come up with any missing persons who would have been in the same demographic as Jacob through the 1990s. It's hard for me to believe that Heinrich stopped and resolved to a life of having 19 3-ring binders full of child porn in his possession. Perpetrators like him only stop unless they're caught.

I am entirely grateful that the Wetterlings and Jered have at least some semblance of closure to all of this, but I can't help to feel that there's still more to the story. There's several attacks in Paynesville before Jered's abduction that need to be solved, and what was Heinrich up to for the past 27 years? This is one of those cases for me that is solved on the outer layer, but beneath there's this huge rabbit hole that needs to be uncovered.

It's been a little over a year since Jacob's remains were found.

The Wetterlings reflected on this past year where they finally got some closure (at least in part) and look ahead. They still plan to do keep running Jacob's foundation.

Last December, a Twin Cities real estate developer purchased Danny Heinrich's house and paid to have it demolished. Patty Wetterling and neighbors watched the home get bulldozed two days before Christmas.

http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2017/09/01/after-long-and-grueling-year-wetterlings-reflect-look-forward/609677001/

Did anyone see the 20/20 episode shown this week on the Jacob Wetterling case? The episode was titled, ‘Snatched.’ Its 2 hours of covering every detail from the start to the finally recovering Jacob’s body with endless police photos, footage, interviews with pretty much every person who had a hand investigating this crime. They also filmed from the abduction site. It’s gut wrenching to know that this sweet kid was asking what he did wrong while that monster Danny Heinrich was forcing him inside his car.

The part that really killed me was toward the end, seeing the emotion of everyone being interviewed once they had finally discovered the truth after 27 years. Naturally family members were crying and Jacob’s best friend Aaron was crying. But multiple police investigators were crying (one had to stop the interview for a minute to get himself together), even the creator of Jacob’s blog was crying, and she never even met them. The police photo discovery of Jacob’s red hockey jacket that he was wearing when he was abducted…there are no words. If you had followed this case over the years, this is an interesting watch but you should prepare yourself beforehand for some very difficult parts.

Jacob’s mother Patty, who is just an amazing person, released a memoir yesterday titled “Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope.”