The updated ABC 20/20 special on the Jacob Wetterling case has brought renewed attention to one of America’s most haunting child abduction cases. The episode, which aired Friday night, includes interviews with Jacob’s mother, Patty Wetterling, co-author Caroline Lowe, and Jared Scheierl, the survivor of a kidnapping that occurred months before Jacob disappeared.
The new episode, titled “Where Are You Jacob?” has sparked questions about Danny Heinrich, the Minnesota man who admitted to abducting, sexually assaulting and killing 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling in 1989 and also abducted and sexually assaulted Scheierl a few months before.
Heinrich is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to child pornography charges under a plea agreement that required him to confess to Jacob’s murder and reveal where the boy’s remains were buried.
Where is Danny Heinrich now?
Danny James Heinrich remains incarcerated in federal prison. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons records cited by CBS Minnesota, he is housed at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts.
His projected release date is March 28, 2033. He was also sentenced to lifetime supervised release after completing his prison term.
Heinrich was sentenced in 2016 to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to receiving child pornography. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors required him to admit responsibility for Jacob Wetterling’s abduction, sexual assault and murder. Heinrich also admitted to the 1989 kidnapping and sexual assault of another 12-year-old boy identified in court as J.S.
The conviction for child pornography served as the legal foundation for Heinrich’s prison sentence since murder charges could no longer be brought under the terms of the agreement.
How did Dany Heinrich get caught?
Jacob Wetterling disappeared on October 22, 1989, while riding his bicycle with his younger brother and a friend near St. Joseph, Minnesota.
The case triggered one of the largest child search efforts in US history and remained unsolved for nearly 27 years.
The breakthrough came in 2016 after investigators confronted Heinrich with new evidence through Jared Scheierl, the 12-year-old survivor who was kidnapped in nearby Cold Spring nine months before Jacob’s abduction, according to the website DearJacobBook.com.
Heinrich ultimately led authorities to Jacob’s burial site near Paynesville, Minnesota, ending decades of uncertainty for the Wetterling family.
During his guilty plea, Heinrich admitted he abducted Jacob at gunpoint, sexually assaulted him and then shot him before burying his body in a rural area. He also admitted to sexually assaulting Jared months before Jacob’s murder and possessing child sexual abuse material.
