Unspeakable Things

Content Warning: This novel refers to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as child neglect, murder, violence, racism, and anti-gay bias.

According to her blog, Lourey came of age in the 1980s in Paynesville, Minnesota. Eight boys near Paynesville were abducted, and Lourey grew up believing it was normal for kids to have a curfew and fear the possibility of nearby child abduction. In 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling’s disappearance, which took place 30 miles from Paynesville, changed American parents’ perceptions of children’s safety.

Nine months before Jacob’s disappearance, a boy named Jared was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a man with a gun. In 2010, a local blogger began investigating the connection between Jacob’s disappearance, Jared’s kidnapping, and the kidnapping of the Paynesville boys. She realized that there were several points of overlap in the stories of the kidnapping victims and Jared’s recollection. Her work, as detailed on the In the Dark podcast, prompted a reopening of the investigation of Jacob’s unsolved disappearance. In 2015, authorities identified a person of interest and issued a warrant for the home of Danny James Heinrich. The discovery of child pornography led to his arrest. As part of his plea bargain, he led the FBI to the burial site of Jacob Wetterling.