MINNEAPOLIS – Remains found in central Minnesota in recent days are that of Jacob Wetterling, an 11-year-old boy who was abducted in 1989, authorities said Saturday in an announcement that provided some long-awaited answers to a mystery that has captivated a state for decades and sparked changes in sex offender laws.
Jacob was kidnapped in October of 1989 from a rural road near his home in St. Joseph, about 80 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
In a statement released Saturday, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office said it “confirms that Jacob Wetterling’s remains have been located.”
The statement says that the Ramsey County medical examiner and a forensic odontologist identified the remains Saturday.
A law enforcement official said a person of interest in Jacob’s abduction took authorities to a field in central Minnesota last week.
Jacob’s mother, Patty Wetterling, sent a text message to KARE-TV earlier Saturday, saying that Jacob “has been found and our hearts are broken.”
Jacob was riding his bicycle with his brother and a friend on Oct. 22, 1989, when a masked gunman abducted him from a rural road near his home in St. Joseph. He hadn’t been seen since.
No one has been arrested or charged in his abduction, which led to changes in sex-offender registration laws.
But last year, authorities took another look at the case, and were led to Danny Heinrich, a man they called a “person of interest” in Jacob’s kidnapping.
Heinrich, 53, of Annandale, denied any involvement in Jacob’s abduction, and was not charged with that crime. But he has pleaded not guilty to 25 federal child pornography charges and is scheduled to go on trial on those counts in October.
