The remains of an 11-year-old boy who was abducted nearly 27 years ago in St. Joseph, Minnesota have finally been found, authorities confirmed in a statement on Saturday.
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In early 1989, nine months before Jacob’s disappearance, a 12-year-old Cold Spring boy was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a man who then released him with the warning “not to look back or he would be shot”.
A statement has also been posted to the Facebook page of the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, which aims to raise awareness and provide information to help families and communities tackle the exploitation of children.
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.
On the day of his disappearance, Jacob was riding his bicycle with his brother and a friend when a masked gunman abducted him.
“The Ramsey County Medical Examiner and a forensic odontologist identified the remains as Wetterling’s earlier today”, the release said.
Even after being tipped off to thousands of leads, police have so far not arrested or charged a single person in relation to the abduction – which led to changes in the law that requires states to establish sex offender registries.
She says her two children were playing outside that night and saw Jacob and his friends after they left on their fateful trip the convenience store.
Although the finding of Jacob’s remains revived a long-held grief on the people of Minnesota, it may finally lead to a closure in a painful chapter in his story. Still, there have not been any charges filed in Wetterling’s case.
His mother Patricia Wetterling and her husband have been searching for Jacob ever since.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune and KSTP-TV, Minneapolis, reported Saturday the Stearns County, Minn., Sheriff’s Office recovered the remains late last week. Klobuchar says the Wetterling family “and all who knew and loved Jacob are in our hearts today”. The gunman was on foot, and no vehicle was in sight. The incident occurred on October 22 of 1989, and as Jacob was being abducted, the man told the other boys to flee the scene.
Sheriff’s deputies, National Guard troops and hundreds of volunteers scoured the area but found no clues. When the boys did, Jacob and the masked man were gone. Heinrich was also a suspect in another 1989 kidnapping in nearby Cold Spring, Minn., that took place the same year, but he can not be charged because DNA evidence linking him to the case was discovered after the statute of limitations in place at the time had expired. He has not been seen since, and the case remains open.
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Jacob’s abduction shattered childhood innocence for many in rural Minnesota, changing the way parents let their kids roam. He has not been charged in Jacob’s abduction and death. He was indicted in December on 25 child pornography charges – five from October, plus an additional 20 related to possessing and receiving child pornography both in print and digital images.
