Victim of 1986 Paynesville Attack Says Authorities Ignored Him

Danny Heinrich, the man who revealed the location of Jacob Wetterling's remains, was a suspect in the Wetterling case from the very beginning, 27 years ago.

WCCO reported that within the first four months after Wetterling’s abduction, Heinrich was contacted by Stearns County investigators and the FBI four times.

Investigators found that Heinrich’s shoe prints were consistent, but not a scientific match, to the prints found at the scene of Wetterling's abduction.

The discovery of Wetterling's remains in Paynesville Saturday brings up new questions about whether police could have prevented his death.

As a 13-year-old in 1986, Troy Cole, of Paynesville, was pulled off his bike and sexually assaulted not far from where Wetterling's remains were found. Cole believes Heinrich assaulted him. He also says that he and seven other boys who reported attacks between 1986 and 1987 were ignored by Paynesville authorities.

According to the Star Tribune, Cole and other victims began speaking out about their stories in 2015 to help with the Wetterling case. Cole questions why officers at the time of his attack weren't more helpful.

"Why? We were kids back then. Why didn’t they help us out?"

Cole said he and his father reported the attack to the Paynesville police, but as far as he knows, police ignored the case.

Another victim from Paynesville, who identified himself as Craig, told WCCO that he believes if authorities had done more to find his attacker, Wetterling would be alive today.

Image: James Jordan via Flickr /Creative Commons