Jacob’s remains were found late last week in a pasture near Paynesville, Minn., almost 27 years after he was abducted in October 1989.
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Heinrich told authorities he wore a mask when he abducted Jacob before handcuffing the boy in a auto and assaulting him in the woods, according to the Associated Press.
Friese says the plea deal includes indefinite civil commitment after Heinrich serves his time in federal prison.
Heinrich pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of child pornography.
Jacob’s remains were found late last week in a pasture near Paynesville, Minn., almost 27 years after his abduction. He handcuffed Jacob behind his back and drove away as Jacob asked, ‘What did I do wrong?’
Heinrich said at some point a patrol auto with sirens and lights passing nearby caused him to panic.
When he returned to the grave site a year later, Heinrich said he could see Jacob’s red jacket.
MPR’s Cathy Wurzer spoke with Andrew Luger, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, and Rick Thornton, the FBI Special Agent in charge of the Minneapolis Division. “Any tool that we have to help kids is a tool that we can use for hopefully happier endings”, says Alison Feigh, program director at the JWRC.
Fighting back tears after the Heinrich entered his plea and confessed, Patty Wetterling described the pain of finding out what happened to her son.
“Our hearts were touched by a request from children to honor Jacob in this way”, the JWRC said in a statement. Heinrich denies involvement in Jacob’s disappearance and is not charged in the case.
“Until last Friday, proof that Jacob Wetterling was no longer alive did not exist”, she said.
And there was no body, so they couldn’t bring a murder charge in Jacob’s case.
The buried remains were identified as Jacob’s on Saturday.
He had first been questioned shortly after Jacob’s abduction, but he maintained his innocence and authorities never had enough evidence to charge him.
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New advances in DNA technology provided the opportunity for authorities to retest some evidence – including a sweatshirt worn by a then-12-year-old boy, Jared Scheierl, who was abducted and sexually assaulted in nearby Cold Spring just nine months before Jacob’s abduction. We know it better as the “sex offender registration law”.
