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Released Search Warrants Detail Wetterling Evidence

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Newly released documents show more details about the investigation into Jacob Wetterling's disappearance, and what authorities were specifically looking for.

Stearns County District Court Judge Vicki Landwehr ordered investigators to file any search warrants that had been previously withheld in the ongoing search.

On Friday, those warrants were released, which reveal new light on not only Danny Heinrich, who this week confessed to kidnapping and killing Jacob Wetterling, but also former suspects Duane Hart and Dan Rassier. Here are links to them all (WARNING: Explicit Content):

The documents reveal that during the initial 1989 investigations Rassier was put under hypnosis for questioning while he was considered a person of interest in Wetterling's disappearance, and when asked if he knew Jacob Wetterling, said "no" and began crying. He continued to be emotional whenever questioned about Wetterling.

Also, the documents show that Patty Wetterling talked with Rassier in 2009 while wearing a wire. She asked him if he knew what had happened to Jacob and he said he thought he saw the boy looking through the window of a vehicle that had turned around in his driveway.

Patty Wetterling commented that whoever took Jacob was in for "a life of hell," to which Rassier responded, "I think the person that did it is probably dead."

Among the information also included in the warrants was a list of what investigators sought as they searched Rassier's property, which aside from potential human remains included:

  • Red hockey team jacket, with the name "Jacob" stitched on the front and a St. Cloud Police logo on the back
  • Blue boys sweatpants
  • Red T-shirt with CMYSA, a soccer ball logo, and St. Cloud on the front, with the number 11 and the name Wetterling on the back
  • Orange traffic vest, with silver trim and black drawstrings on each side
  • Silver handgun
  • Blue mesh jersey
  • Boys white tube socks
  • White boys underwear
  • Boys Nike high top sneakers, white with grey Nike swatch along the side

The Wetterling family will hold a memorial service for Jacob on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 10 a.m. at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph.

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