He asked the boys their ages, grabbed Jacob and told the others to run into the woods or else he’d shoot, Jacob’s father has said, recounting what his son told police.
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On Thursday, law enforcement authorities in Minnesota called a press conference to talk about a development in the case that has gripped the state for 26 years.
[Photo by Chris Somodevilla/Getty Images]Officials on Thursday stressed that Heinrich has not been charged in connection with Wetterling’s abduction, but that he is being named a person of interest.
Federal authorities have announced a person of interest in the disappearance of Jacob Wetterling.
The brother of Danny Heinrich has been speaking with FOX 9, giving a brief interview in which he said there was much he didn’t know about his brother following his arrest for child pornography possession, but is adamant he wasn’t responsible for Jacob’s disappearance.
“Jacob’s disappearance also impacted how many parents in the region talk to their kids about stranger danger”.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Heinrich had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
“Mr. Heinrich was looked at very closely back in 1989 and 1990, so this isn’t somebody who is new to us”, Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner said. “The way we manage offenders is totally different”, Patty Wetterling said. His preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday morning in federal court in St. Paul.
Investigators revealed advanced DNA technology linked Heinrich to a kidnapping and sexual assault case of a young boy in Cold Spring, Minnesota that occurred just ten months before Wetterling was abducted.
In that incident, a man pulled a 12-year-old boy into a vehicle in Cold Spring, a town about 10 miles from St. Joseph, and forced him to perform oral sex, the affidavit said. Heinrich’s home was searched in July in part due to the DNA tests, he said.
Investigators recovered 19 different 3-ring binders “filled with images of children including naked pubescent boys” at Heinrich’s home in Annandale. A man, identified as 52-year-old Danny James Heinrich, was identified as a person of interest and was charged with possessing child pornography.
Without commenting directly on the case, The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Forensic science services director Catherine Knutson said Monday DNA testing has “come a long way since 1989”.
Heinrich was not charged in those attacks. U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said the videos appear to have been filmed by Heinrich, and a few appear to have been shot by a hidden camera.
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In a few of the cases, the attacker would knock the boys off their bicycles and grope their genitals, the complaint said.
