Murder of Jacob Wetterling
In May 2014, investigators began taking more looks at a series of tried or actual child molestations that had taken place in the Paynesville area within several years before Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped and murdered. Between summer 1986 and spring 1987, five teenage boys were attacked. Nobody was arrested for the attacks, though. Authorities talked with some of the victims again. They also worked with an Internet blogger who brought the information to light. After several months of research and talking to some of the victims, the investigators realized the attacks were not random. They also realized the culprit might be linked to the kidnapping of Wetterling, almost 40 minutes from the other crime scenes.