BEMIDJI, Minn. -- A 32-year-old man has been arrested for kidnapping in connection with the disappearance of a 5-year-old Bemidji girl, who was found early Thursday morning in a pop-up camper near Bigfork, Minn.
The girl was reported missing Wednesday after an overnight fire destroyed a home she was staying at at the Hillcrest Manor mobile home park in north Bemidji. Police found the body of a woman at the scene of the fire, who they later acknowledged was likely killed in a homicide.
No information about the identity of the body or the cause of death was being released by authorities late Thursday.
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“This continues to be a complex and ongoing investigation,” Bemidji Police Chief Mike Mastin said during a news conference Thursday. “We are looking at learning everything we can about this timeline, the motive and whether anyone else was involved. It does not appear to be, in this case, but we still want to be positive and explore that possibility.”
Law enforcement identified Jacob William Kinn, of Bemidji, as a person of interest late Wednesday, according to Mastin and Sue Burggraf, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension special agent in charge. Kinn came to the Bemidji Police Department voluntarily for questioning Wednesday night.
After interviewing him, police canvassed an area near Bigfork, Minn., where they believed Kinn had been and located the girl alive at about 5:20 a.m. Thursday in a pop-up camper on land police believe belongs to Kinn’s relatives.
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“Through the course of the investigation... investigators interviewed Jacob Kinn and obtained information about his whereabouts at the time of the kidnapping,” Burggraf said. “They discovered fresh tire tracks; they followed the tire tracks through the wooded area, where they located a pop-up camper. Inside they found Brittany.”
The 5-year-old was taken to a hospital. Her father said via a Facebook message that he was still waiting to see her as of 4 p.m. Thursday.
The Bemidji Police Department and the Bemidji Fire Department both responded to a report of a fire in the Hillcrest Manor mobile home park at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and found the house “fully engulfed” in flames. After firefighters gained control of the fire and found the adult body, they discovered the girl was missing.
More than 50 law enforcement officials and volunteers spent Wednesday afternoon and evening searching for the girl near the mobile home park and in a large wooded and swampy area near the park. Officers also canvassed the neighborhood and talked to residents while searching.
Kinn was convicted of possessing child pornography in 2013. In February 2013, he posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a “2-9 year old” girl to pose in “skimpy outfits,” seven months after bailing out of jail, where he was being held on six counts of child porn possession. Kinn was sentenced to 15 months in prison, which was stayed for five years; he served 120 days in Beltrami County Jail.
Kinn is currently being held in Beltrami County Jail awaiting formal charges and will appear in court Monday for a probation violation hearing.
Mastin said he was grateful to find the child alive.
“Clearly it’s a fantastic result,” he said. “You couldn’t ask for a better result.”
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