Sources: Jacob Wetterling's remains have been found

Sources tell KSTP-TV the remains of Jacob Wetterling have been found after Danny Heinrich, who authorities named as a person of interest in Wetterling's 1989 kidnapping, agreed to cooperate and provide information.

The sources say Heinrich led investigators to an undisclosed location in central Minnesota where the remains were found. DNA tests are currently being conducted to determine if they are in fact the boy's remains.

Saturday morning, Jacob's mother, Patty Wetterling, texted media outlets “Our hearts are broken. We have no words.”

Jacob was 11 years old when he was kidnapped at gunpoint by a man wearing a mask in October 1989 near his home in St. Joseph, Minnesota.

Over the years there have been many tips and none of them have panned out.

Reporter Tom Hauser called Patty Wetterling at 9:51 p.m. Friday after receiving a tip that Jacob's remains might have been found. She has always been very gracious and open about discussing the case with Hauser, but this time she ended the conversation before he could ask a question - an initial indication that something about the case may have turned.

Hauser and Investigative Executive Producer Paul McEnroe worked through the night to confirm details with sources.

According to two sources with direct knowledge of the case, the remains were recovered after Heinrich, who is being held on federal child pornography charges, agreed to cooperate with the FBI and state authorities.

The 52-year-old Heinrich of Annandale, Minnesota, has been held on the child pornography charges for almost a year while awaiting trial scheduled for next month.

On Oct. 22, 1989, Wetterling, his brother and a friend were riding their bikes home from a convenience store where they had gone to rent a movie.

The boys were stopped by a masked gunman who emerged from a gravel road. The man abducted Wetterling and ordered the other boys to run to a nearby wooded area and threatened to shoot them if they looked back.

Jacob was never found despite a massive search.

Heinrich first came to the attention of investigators in 1990. A DNA sample was taken back then, but he was not charged at the time.

Heinrich was named a person of interest in the Wetterling case last October. That’s because his DNA taken back in 1990 matched DNA found on evidence obtained in the abduction of a boy in Cold Spring in 1989.

Heinrich couldn’t be charged in that case because the statute of limitations had lapsed.

But Heinrich was arrested for possession of child pornography and then subsequently named a person of interest in the Wetterling case.

KSTP-TV has reached out to Patty Wetterling via voicemail and text message after Hauser’s brief conversation with her. She has not called back and we’re told she’s not likely to comment until the forensic testing is complete.