ANNANDALE -- Community members of Annandale say it's been an upsetting week following the arrest of one of their residents for possession of child pornography.

Last week, investigators searched the house of 52-year-old Daniel Heinrich and found child pornography. Authorities have also said Heinrich is -- and has been -- a "person of interest" in the 1989 disappearance of Jacob Wetterling.

"It's just been very shocking and you wonder why that person could be out like that and end up in our community," says Deb Grimm of Annandale.

Heinrich, whose house is just down the street from Annandale Middle School, is also a suspect in the 1989 kidnapping and sexual assault of a Cold Spring boy.

"It's just scary," says Traci Wagner, an Annandale mother of five who says the community has been talking about this case since news broke last week.

"Whenever you run into a mom it's the first thing we all talk about, like 'oh, we lived just a few blocks away' -- stuff like that."

Heinrich appeared in court Wednesday where Federal Judge Tony Leung decided to keep the Annandale man in jail due to the amount of child pornography found at his home and the potential risk he is to the community.

"I think that's a good idea," Wagner says. "If he came back here, I think a lot of people wouldn't be [happy] with him being around and be fearful."

"I'm glad," Grimm says. "Lock him up, keep him locked up and just get rid of him."

 

 

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