Cops Find Kidnapped 5-Year-Old After Predator Murders Her Babysitter

He's been sitting there for hours, calm, detached, and denying everything. I haven't done anything. A five-year-old girl is missing. The woman who was babysitting her is dead, found tied up and burned in a trailer. And the man sitting across the table from two special agents claims he was fishing. And yet, his phone pinged miles from where he said he was. His boots are wet. His socks are dirty. Grass is stuck to the bottom of his car. Still, he doesn't break. Now is the time, Jake. We know more than you think we do right now. What changed between two hours ago and now? Across the table, Agent Paul Girardi doesn't answer. He just reaches for his phone and holds it up. Now, start over. What do you got to tell us? The penalty is death. Get your family out of here. Why me? I will have my attorney call you. It's so unbelievable. It's just after 3:30 in the morning on June 22nd, 2016, in Bemidji, Minnesota. The town is still asleep when a 911 call jolts first responders. There's a fire tearing through the walls of an apartment building in Bemidji, Minnesota. It's terrible. It's tearing through a mobile home in Hillcrest Manor. Fire crews quickly arrive, suppress the flames, and begin their search. But what starts as a routine structure fire turns chilling almost immediately. Inside the body of a woman, bound with tape, is discovered. The victim is quickly identified as 35-year-old Melissa Norby. She lived in the trailer with her young son. A quiet woman, known to few, invisible to most. But this wasn't a tragic accident. It was obviously something else. Something much worse. The case is assigned to Special Agent Paul Garardi from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's Grand Rapids office. Garardi begins coordinating with local police, state fire investigators, and fellow agents. The trailer is a crime scene. But they don't yet know what else is missing. Hours pass and the fire is finally put out. Can you shine the light on that gas can again? I'm just going to videotape it. Does that help? Yep. Lots. Investigators are sifting through what's left of the trailer, sorting evidence, piecing together the final moments of Melissa Norby's life. The working theory is simple. The fire is a crime scene. Did that help? Yep. Lots. She was murdered and the fire was set to cover it up. They find out quickly that thankfully her son wasn't home the night of the fire. But just before noon, nearly nine hours after the first flames were reported, something unexpected unfolds at the police barricade. A woman tells investigators her daughter had spent the night in this home. In that moment, everything changes. The horror that investigators thought they understood is now something else entirely. Melissa Norby wasn't alone in the trailer. She had been babysitting a five-year-old girl. Investigators move fast. They return to the scene and search again, not for clues now, but for the girl. But there are no signs of her remains. With no child found in the ashes and no leads on her whereabouts, investigators turn to the next best source of answers: Melissa Norby's friends and family. Who was in her life? Who knew she'd been babysitting that night? Who had the opportunity and the motive to kill? Investigators begin looking into her relationship. Melissa Norby's family. including former boyfriends. One name surfaces quickly, Jacob Kinn. Witnesses describe him as a food truck driver with blue eyes, and in some accounts, is still seeing Melissa. Police now have a name, but not much more to go off of other than his appearance. That alone wouldn't mean much until they pull Kinn's record. He's not just Melissa's ex, he's a registered sex offender with prior convictions for child pornography. In a previous case, he was caught trying to meet a child to photograph her. Investigators don't wait, they call him. And Kin picks up. It's just after midnight on June 23rd, 2016. 20 hours have passed since the fire at Hillcrest Manor. Ken agrees to come to the Bemidji Police Department, voluntarily. He's calm, agreeable even. Across the table are Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents, Paul Girardi and Chad Musseis. The agents begin with the most pressing issue. - You recognize this little girl? I'm gonna answer that question. The entire focus of our evening is this little girl. We have to go and tell her parents, this community, that we've done everything we can to find her. Jake, something bad happened. Something got out of control, and somebody ended up dead. And this little girl is somewhere. Whether she's alive or whether she's gone, we have an obligation to everyone to bring her home. Jake, if you could help us with that in any way. I would if I could, but I don't know what you said. Jake, if you could. I know it's tough. I know it's really tough to think about what's going to happen and all that kind of stuff, but I'm saying this right now. There are people out there that would support you if you said, you know what, I made a mistake. I made a mistake, I overreacted, and this little girl is, we can bring her home. Let's do that. The three of us together, let's bring this little girl home. Safer, I don't know where she's at. I don't have her. You're insisting that I have her or I know where she's at. I am. And I don't. Okay. In the hours before this interview, agents had subpoenaed his cell phone records. If Ken had been fishing, as he claimed, the pings should be from a nearby tower. Instead, they come from Big Fork, close to land, in fact, owned by his family. where were you when he called you absolutely stand on the dock in your vehicle where I was get packing up getting ready to leave anyways okay you know what time did she call you um no it was like 10.3 or look in your phone show me your show me the call we can see the time it was 10.3 or 10.7 and my phone started beeping I had to call her back okay you see that link right there yeah that's where you are that's where your cell phone okay that's yeah i i said i got that okay i just wanted to show you the map with a clear picture so that's you know yeah and their cell phone tower is closer to that than it should have pinged up yeah okay i don't know how that would have happened but yeah it wasn't in Big Ford. I had no reason to be in Big Ford. I don't know why Yellow pinged off the Big Ford tower. I have no reason to lie about where I was tonight. They also know that multiple people in Melissa's life, from her son to her co-workers, told others she was seeing Ken. Her son talks about you. Her cousin, co-workers, this girl in Nebraska. It's five different people that say - You, it's you. - I've never met any of them. - Why you? - I don't know. 'Cause she had a crush on me long time ago and she wanted to date. I already told you this. - Yeah, that's years ago. - You know, a year ago, two years ago, yes. - Yeah. - They move to physical evidence. At the fire scene, investigators find a gas can. Any reason why your DNA would be on that gas can? No. And if it was? I didn't own a gas can like that. I own several gas cans like that. That gas can was found at the arson site. Okay. Any evidence on you? Any evidence in your vehicle? Any evidence in your house? Tell you what. Any evidence in your phone? If you find any evidence on any of that, you can come pick me up. Okay. But you're not going to find anything because I didn't do anything. And there's going to be no connection between you and her? Whatsoever, in any way, shape, or form. And no connection between you and Melissa? I don't believe so, no. 100% sure? 95% sure. What's the 5%? I'm tired and groggy and you guys kept me up all night. Tired, groggy? Extremely tired, yes. There are people out there looking for this little girl right now yeah there's lots of people and if it was my daughter I'd be going breaking down doors myself yeah but I didn't do anything to the little girl I haven't seen the little girl I haven't seen Melissa in a long time I haven't done anything okay I was in bed sleeping I'm sorry I don't live with anybody to corroborate that story but today I was working yesterday I was working I was fishing the hours are slipping away and with each one the search becomes more desperate the agents shift tactics framing it as an accident something that got out of hand and hopes kin will take the opening you know she if she got choked out and she got an accident let's talk about that let's fix it okay that's fixable okay she was in the bondage using it if this little girl you panicked and did something to her maybe she's okay maybe we can get her home I hope she is okay so I didn't do anything but if she's not okay we can explain that too you're pushing me to say something that I didn't do the questions keep coming but Ken hasn't given them anything they can use the agents are running out of angles and time while Ken is in the mines are working the big fork lead they follow tire tracks into a grove of trees and find a camper sealed with tape is someone in there investigators move in they peel back the tape and open the door is it okay if I come in okay you don't have to be scared okay we're the police she's there alive her feet and legs bound with electrical tape her arms marked where she'd been taped before but free somehow she'd wriggled loose is there anybody else around here with you okay oh what's his name okay when did he bring you here right now okay does he have a car what kind of car does he have okay was he nice to you can you show me your feet right there okay where are you taped at okay anywhere else did you have tape on your arms yes okay did you take the tape off where's that tape at okay my name's Rob and this is Don how old are you probably for something okay back at the station they bring Ken back in for more questioning now is the time Jake okay we we know more than you think we do right now what does he look like he has a beard okay did you go to his house at all do you know what color his house is what's it look like what is it a big house or a small house small house okay does he have any animals or no okay the mama cat has me kittens oh okay he has a mama cat with baby kittens okay do the tape on your legs hurt at all okay only your arms do your arms hurt can you point to where your arms hurt okay yeah okay is it okay if we take a few more pictures okay my mommy's name is okay do you know uh your mommy's phone number okay we'll call your mommy pretty soon here okay are you thirsty okay okay we'll get you some better some pop okay yeah I like pop or something okay we'll get you whatever you want all right this is Special Agent Rob Frake of Special Agent Don Newhouse the time now is 6 11 a.m June 23rd 2016. Special Agent Rob Frake picks her up holds her close and snaps a photo now is the time Jake now is the time for you to fill in those points and that was the time for you to come clean and tell us what really happened here what changed between two hours ago and now today Paul Gerardi does not answer he turns his phone toward Ken and shows him the photograph of Agent Rob Frake holding the girl in his arms for the first time the truth is undeniable Ken's lies won't work anymore um started talking to Melissa again a few weeks to a month ago okay um she'd gotten a hold of me and we talked um and we weren't dating but we we actually hadn't had a sexual relationship but we you know role played on the phone role played and what was her role it was daddy daughter um that kind of stuff okay did you go there for her or for Melissa who was from what I said but it was did you know that she was going to be there yeah the case has turned the manhunt is over the child is safe and Jacob Ken is going to prison but the investigation didn't stop there in the weeks that follow shocking evidence comes to light in a twisted turn of events police believe Ken and Norby planned the abduction together recovered cell phones and a laptop containing child pornography and text detailed their plot which included staging an assault on Norby somewhere along the way the plan changed and Norby ended up dead his motive for killing Norby may never be known but one look at Ken's record and the thought is chilling maybe Melissa Norby was just in the way Jacob Ken was charged with kidnapping sexual assault murder and arson the girl he abducted was examined at the hospital what she'd endured in those 27 hours will stay with her and her family for a lifetime Jacob Ken eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree murder kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct he was sentenced to 52 years in prison in 2017 the Bemidji Police Department was named agency of the year at the Minnesota sex crimes investigators Association conference for their painstaking work in this case that same year members of the Bemidji Police Department as well as agents from the Minnesota BCA including Frake Gerardi and musaeus were honored with the National Center for missing and exploited Children's Heroes Award the awards recognize outstanding law enforcement personnel who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to rescue children for the agents and officers who work this case the rescue was more than a job it was a moment they'll never forget for law and crime investigates I'm Kristen Thorne foreign