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Missing Boy's Mother Says His Remains Found; Officials Mum

by Associated Press

   The mother of a Minnesota boy missing since 1989 said Saturday that his
   remains have been found.

   Patty Wetterling said in a text message to KARE-TV that 11-year-old
   Jacob Wetterling "has been found and our hearts are broken." She did
   not immediately respond to calls and text messages from The Associated
   Press.

   Federal authorities declined to comment.

   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, about 80 miles northwest of Minneapolis. He hasn't been
   seen since.

   No one has been arrested or charged in his abduction. In 1994, Congress
   passed a law named after Jacob Wetterling requiring states to establish
   sex offender registries.

   FILE - The area where 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted in Oct.
   1989 in St. Joseph, Minn., shown Nov. 3, 2015. Patty Wetterling,
   Jacob's mother, said Saturday that his remains have been found.

   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, 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.

   A law enforcement source told The Associated Press on Saturday that
   Heinrich took authorities to a field last week and remains and other
   evidence were recovered. The source spoke to the AP on condition of
   anonymity because of the ongoing case. The source did not confirm
   whether the remains are Jacob's.

   FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Sherburne County
   Sheriff's Office, shows Daniel Heinrich. Heinrich, who authorities have
   called a person of interest in the 1989 kidnapping of Jacob Wetterling,
   denied any involvement and was not charged with

   The FBI has said previously that Heinrich matched the general
   description of a man who assaulted several boys in Paynesville from
   1986 to 1988. Earlier this year, Heinrich's DNA was found on the
   sweatshirt of a 12-year-old boy who was kidnapped from Cold Spring and
   sexually assaulted nine months before Jacob's abduction.

   Heinrich's attorney did not respond to an emailed request for comment
   Saturday.

   Patty Wetterling always kept hope her son would be found alive. She
   became a national advocate for children, and with her husband, Jerry
   Wetterling, founded the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, which works
   to help communities and families prevent child exploitation.

   The Jacob Wetterling Resource Center posted a statement on its website
   Saturday, saying they are in "deep grief."

   "We didn't want Jacob's story to end this way," the statement said.
   "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. ... Jacob, you are loved."