by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
On the morning of Saturday, Sept. 3, there were rumors flying far and wide that the remains of Jacob Wetterling had been found, but the rumors turned into grim truth when the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the fact.
Danny Heinrich, 53, of Annandale, was arrested last summer for possessing child pornography. As part of a plea agreement, he reportedly led investigators last week to Paynesville where they found Jacob’s remains.
Heinrich had been a person of interest in the Wetterling disappearance just weeks after the kidnapping. At that time, a man in the Paynesville area had groped and molested several boys during a period of years, and one of the boys was forced into a car and sexually molested.
Heinrich confessed to kidnapping and fatally shooting Wetterling as he pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in a federal court in Minneapolis on Sept. 6.
The following is the statement that appeared on the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, written by the staff of the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, shortly after Jacob’s remains were found:
“We are in deep grief. We didn’t want Jacob’s story to end this way. In this moment of pain and shock, we go back to the beginning. The Wetterlings had a choice to walk into bitterness and anger or to walk into a light of what could be, a light of hope. Their choice changed the world.
“This light has been burning for close to 27 years. The spark began in the moments after the abduction of Jacob Wetterling, when his family decided that light is stronger than darkness. They lit the flame that became Jacob’s Hope. All of central Minnesota flocked to and fanned the flame, hoping for answers. The light spread statewide, nationally and globally as hearts connected to the 11-year-old boy who liked to play goalie for his hockey team, wanted to be a football player, played the trombone and loved the times he spent with his sisters, brother and parents.
“Today, we gather around the same flame. The flame that has become more than the hope for one as it led the way home for thousands of others. It’s the light that illuminates a world that Jacob believed in, where things are fair and just.
“Our hearts are heavy, but we are being held up by all of the people who have been a part of making Jacob’s Hope a light that will never be extinguished. It shines on in a different way. We are, and we will continue to be, Jacob’s Hope.
“Jacob, you are loved.”
Patty Wetterling, center, cuts cake with the help of her granddaughters, Maizie, front, and Belle, back, during the 25th anniversary of the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center Tuesday afternoon. Wetterling was there along with her husband, Jerry, and daughter, Carmen.
