Finding Jacob Wetterling - The 27-Year Investigation From Kidnapping to Conclusion

[CrimeSolver]

Ah, I understand. No, my thought was whether it would be an actual film or an episode of 48 Hours or 20/20, or something like that, but you have cleared that up.

 

[Listen]

Saw this the other day and though some of you might appreciate seeing it. It's a photo I had never seen before. The journalist's caption is heartbreaking.

 

[CrimeSolver]

^Heartbreaking.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

While I was writing the first book, someone jokingly said to me that 50 Shades of Gray had started out as a self-published book by an unknown author, and who knows, maybe your book will be published one day. I really had no aspirations or expectations of that happening...but this past summer I was a approached by a leading publisher of non-fiction books...and, well,...that's about to actually happen. More details coming soon!

Wanted you all to be the first to know...

Congratulations!

 

[photographer4]

Amazon.ca

Jacob's mother has a book coming out that may be of interest so sharing the link here.

 

[mjm076]

Amazon.ca

Jacob's mother has a book coming out that may be of interest so sharing the link here.

Is anyone watching the ABC 20/20 episode on Jacob Wetterling’s case titled Snatched which is airing right now?

 

[steeltowngirl]

Is anyone watching the ABC 20/20 episode on Jacob Wetterling’s case titled Snatched which is airing right now?

I just watched it. Possibly the best 20/20 crime case episode I have
ever seen.

The Wetterlings were so brave and persistent. The woman who pieced together the tie to Paynesville and to Jacob‘s killer was amazing.

Together with LE and Heinrich’s confession, they were able to locate Jacob’s remains and bring him home to his final resting place.

Great episode. Well worth the watch.

 

[ELOCsoul]

I just watched it. Possibly the best 20/20 crime case episode I have
ever seen.

The Wetterlings were so brave and persistent. The woman who pieced together the tie to Paynesville and to Jacob‘s killer was amazing.

Together with LE and Heinrich’s confession, they were able to locate Jacob’s remains and bring him home to his final resting place.

Great episode. Well worth the watch.

The Paynesville cases were connected to Jacob and Jared from the beginning of the investigation. It has been documented that Paynesville police and Stearns County were into Heinrich for the PV cases and Jared’s case. The Joy Baker “discovery” is a narrative to shift the focus of a botched investigation.

Also, Joy Baker did not “stumble upon” the Paynesville case newspaper archives. I personally sent her an article that referenced the cases and shared with her my login information to a newspaper archive where the articles were posted. Additionally, a couple other Websleuths members posted about the incidents before Joy knew about them.

 

[mjm076]

The Paynesville cases were connected to Jacob and Jared from the beginning of the investigation. It has been documented that Paynesville police and Stearns County were into Heinrich for the PV cases and Jared’s case. The Joy Baker “discovery” is a narrative to shift the focus of a botched investigation.

In other words, Joy Baker did the work that should have been done by investigators?

Will you be buying Patty Wetterling’s book?

 

[ELOCsoul]

In other words, Joy Baker did the work that should have been done by investigators?

Will you be buying Patty Wetterling’s book?

No. If you watched the documentary Ken McDonald stated they knew about the Paynesville incidents but couldn’t share information with Baker. Baker had an odd entitlement mentality, saying the law enforcement was stonewalling her (she literally communicated that to me). Well, of course they can’t tell her anything. She’s not an investigator.

Law enforcement has said multiple times that the Paynesville incidents were known and investigated. Regardless, knowing Heinrich was the perp in those cases did nothing to prove Heinrich kidnapped Jacob.

Also, The FBI agent has said in another documentary that the CARD team solved the case by looking at the original file with no new information.

Yes I have the book preordered and will be reading it.

 

[mjm076]

No. If you watched the documentary Ken McDonald stated they knew about the Paynesville incidents but couldn’t share information with Baker. Baker had an odd entitlement mentality, saying the law enforcement was stonewalling her (she literally communicated that to me). Well, of course they can’t tell her anything. She’s not an investigator.

Law enforcement has said multiple times that the Paynesville incidents were known and investigated. Regardless, knowing Heinrich was the perp in those cases did nothing to prove Heinrich kidnapped Jacob.

Also, The FBI agent has said in another documentary that the CARD team solved the case by looking at the original file with no new information.

Yes I have the book preordered and will be reading it.

I am interested in reading Patty’s book, but I’m a bit apprehensive as it was very hard to hear the details of Jacob’s last moments on 20/20 last night and I’m worried the book will be too detailed in that regard.

 

[ELOCsoul]

I am interested in reading Patty’s book, but I’m a bit apprehensive as it was very hard to hear the details of Jacob’s last moments on 20/20 last night and I’m worried the book will be too detailed in that regard.

The details are very disturbing. I don’t think the book will go much beyond what was described in the 20/20 program as far as that goes. In Heinrich’s courtroom confession he says the gun just clicked at first, then it went as Patty described in the program.

Ironically, on the very date that law enforcement found Jacob’s remains I had emailed information that Heinrich had often partied at a location north of Paynesville by the Crow River and R/R. I suggested it may be a place DH would have buried Jacob. It turns out that is exactly where he buried Jacob the night he killed him. About a year later (The FBI profiler, who happened to be John Douglas, very likely warned LE that the suspected perp should be tailed near the anniversary) DH returned to the grave and RE buried Jacob. I have been to both sites and it was a very emotional experience to say the least.

 

[steeltowngirl]

The Paynesville cases were connected to Jacob and Jared from the beginning of the investigation. It has been documented that Paynesville police and Stearns County were into Heinrich for the PV cases and Jared’s case. The Joy Baker “discovery” is a narrative to shift the focus of a botched investigation.

Also, Joy Baker did not “stumble upon” the Paynesville case newspaper archives. I personally sent her an article that referenced the cases and shared with her my login information to a newspaper archive where the articles were posted. Additionally, a couple other Websleuths members posted about the incidents before Joy knew about them.

Wow! I didn’t follow the case closely at the time, but certainly saw the milk cartons that featured Jacob. Thank you for this important clarification, and for moving the investigation forward.

 

[ELOCsoul]

Wow! I didn’t follow the case closely at the time, but certainly saw the milk cartons that featured Jacob. Thank you for this important clarification, and for moving the investigation forward.

Thank you, but to clarify, when I sent that tip in they were actually digging for Jacob right across the road and not because of my tip. I was doing what John Douglas would do at the time and a lot of things fell into place exactly like he would have said it would, including a triggering job loss and the death of Heinrich’s mother, and a pair of arsons by his hand.

The FBI solved the case in 1990 and again in 2015.

 

[arielilane]

As the years passed with no answers about what happened to her son, Patty Wetterling found hope in the stories of other missing children who had made it back home.

"I would do anything to protect my children and all of these children," Patty told ABC News as she thumbed through old newspaper clippings.

Jacob Wetterling, an 11-year-old boy from St. Joseph, Minnesota, was kidnapped by a masked man at gunpoint about a half-mile from his home one evening in October 1989. The abduction remained unsolved until 2016, when Danny Heinrich, a man from a nearby town, confessed to assaulting and killing Jacob and led investigators to the boy's remains.

During that time, Patty's unwavering hope would fuel the search for answers about what happened to her son. The ordeal would also inspire her to become a nationally recognized advocate for other missing and exploited children. [...]

Jacob Wetterling's mom speaks out on son's case, advocacy work ahead of new book

Patty Wetterling's unwavering hope would fuel the search for answers about what happened to her son and inspire the passage of a new law named in his honor.

abcnews.go.com

October 13, 2023, 6:25 AM

Jacob Wetterling's mom speaks out on son's case, advocacy work ahead of new book

Patty Wetterling's unwavering hope would fuel the search for answers about what happened to her son and inspire the passage of a new law named in his honor.

abcnews.go.com

The following paragraphs need not hide in an article.

After Jacob’s remains were found nearly three decades after his kidnapping, Patty still found ways to keep Jacob’s hope alive.

"And I didn't want our own kids to live fearful, afraid of the world, afraid to go out and to play and to have fun. So we fought for the way the world that Jacob knew. I refused to let the man who took Jacob take away anything more. You can't have my marriage. You can't have my kids. You can't have the world --that of innocence-- believing in dreams and going after your full potential. That's really what I have fought for and I still will -- is the kids," she added.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Patty Wetterling discusses son's kidnapping, advocacy for children in new book

The project that covers Wetterling’s childhood, marriage, her son’s abduction and her ongoing advocacy for children, proved daunting.

www.kare11.com

 

[arielilane]

In the newest #ABC2020, Patty Wetterling opens the time capsule made for her son Jacob, after his abduction 34 years ago. “It's a walk down memory lane,” Patty says, as she looks through items and letters saved for Jacob's return.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1713193035285377305

 

[Tippy Lynn]

The Paynesville cases were connected to Jacob and Jared from the beginning of the investigation. It has been documented that Paynesville police and Stearns County were into Heinrich for the PV cases and Jared’s case. The Joy Baker “discovery” is a narrative to shift the focus of a botched investigation.

Also, Joy Baker did not “stumble upon” the Paynesville case newspaper archives. I personally sent her an article that referenced the cases and shared with her my login information to a newspaper archive where the articles were posted. Additionally, a couple other Websleuths members posted about the incidents before Joy knew about them.

@ELOCsoul - I've been following this case since the beginning. I want you to know that the work you put into this case hasn't gone unnoticed. You are very much appreciated and have been a true blessing in the work you've accomplished. THANK YOU!!!

 

[ELOCsoul]

@ELOCsoul - I've been following this case since the beginning. I want you to know that the work you put into this case hasn't gone unnoticed. You are very much appreciated and have been a true blessing in the work you've accomplished. THANK YOU!!!

Thank you very much! I do miss the the peeps and the time I spent debating things on Websleuths. This is where I cut my teeth in true crime. I learned to take in different perspectives which really helped develop my analytical senses, or something like that. I went on to focus on much lower profile cases because I felt they were underserved and should have more attention. Most do not have pages on here so I am not posting nearly as often.

Again, I appreciate your kind words!!

 

[mjm076]

Thank you very much! I do miss the the peeps and the time I spent debating things on Websleuths. This is where I cut my teeth in true crime. I learned to take in different perspectives which really helped develop my analytical senses, or something like that. I went on to focus on much lower profile cases because I felt they were underserved and should have more attention. Most do not have pages on here so I am not posting nearly as often.

Again, I appreciate your kind words!!

I was looking through the old threads on Jacobs case and was wondering why did Jared S. leave Websleuths?