ANNANDALE, Minn. (AP) — A small white house that belonged to Jacob Wetterling's killer has come crashing down.

Real estate developer Tim Thorne bought the former home of Danny Heinrich specifically to destroy it. While Heinrich is now in prison, his empty house was a distressing reminder to the central Minnesota community of Annandale that the man who killed 11-year-old Jacob in 1989 had lived among them.

Jacob's mother, Patty Wetterling, was in the crowd Friday to watch a crew use heavy machinery to tear the house down.

The unsolved kidnapping of the St. Joseph boy haunted Minnesota for decades. Authorities searched Heinrich's home and arrested him on child pornography charges last year as they took a fresh look at the case. As part of a plea bargain, Heinrich publicly confessed in September.

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