ST. CLOUD — Stearns County authorities plan to release their investigative files on the kidnapping and killing of Jacob Wetterling to the public next week.

Sheriff Don Gudmundson plans a news conference for Thursday to present “key elements in the case” and take questions before releasing the nearly 57,000 pages of documents.

Jacob was 11 when he was abducted near his St. Joseph home in 1989. In 2016 Danny Heinrich confessed and led investigators to his remains. In a deal with prosecutors, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for child pornography.

Jacob’s parents Patty and Jim Wetterling sued to keep some documents private, saying they held personal information about their family. But media organizations persuaded a judge that the documents were public information under state law because the investigation was over.