Thousands at Funeral Service for Jacob Wetterling, Held Nearly 27 Years After His Abduction

Jacob Wetterling, the Minnesota boy whose remains were found in early September nearly 27 years after he was abducted, was finally laid to rest on Sunday at a memorial service that drew thousands, according to multiple reports.

Jacob, then 11, was abducted at gunpoint by a masked man on Oct. 22, 1989, on his way home from a convenience store. His fate had remained unknown until early September when Danny Heinrich, 52, confessed in federal court to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing Jacob.

Sunday's public service, in Jacob's hometown of St. Joseph, Minnesota, drew around 2,800 people, according to KARE 11, which estimated that about 600 people watched from an overflow area.

Prior to the discovery of his remains, Jacob's family had harbored the hope he was still alive. Patty Wetterling, Jacob's mother, told the crowd, "We wouldn't have survived the past 27 years without the love and support of all of you."

She added, "Every prayer, every candle lit, every flower, every porch light, every hug, every kind note – each and every one has provided us with the courage to move forward."

Jacob's cousin, Allen Oventurf, remembered Jacob as a boy with "twinkling eyes and a genuine smile," according to the Star-Tribune. Oventurf said Jacob loved the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos, that he put peanut butter in his cereal and he loved fishing, according to the Duluth News-Tribune.

Jacob's family and friends lit 11 candles in his honor representing the 11 years he lived.

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On Friday, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton declared Oct. 22, 2016 – the 27-year anniversary of the abduction – to be "Jacob Wetterling Day," according to KARE 11

Dayton and U.S. Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar attended the memorial, according to multiple reports.

Parents Supported Plea Deal

On September 6, Heinrich admitted to killing Wetterling after previously leading investigators to his remains in a farm. He did so as part of a guilty plea to a single federal child pornography charge.

He admitted to wearing a mask and abducting Jacob at gunpoint as the boy rode his bike home with his brother and a friend. He handcuffed Jacob in his car and drove him to a wooded area where he sexually assaulted him. He said that during the abduction, Jacob asked him, "What did I do wrong?"

Heinrich later shot Jacob in the head and buried his body in a gravel pit. Years later, he said, he returned to the crime scene to dig up Jacob's remains and move them to a second shallow grave.

As part of the plea deal, Heinrich also confessed to the sexual assault of a 12-year-old boy months before he abducted Jacob, according to the Star-Tribune.

Despite his admission, under the terms of his plea deal, Heinrich will never be charged with Jacob's murder or the sexual assault of the 12-year-old. Investigators said they did not believe they would ever find Jacob's body without agreeing to the deal and that they consulted with the Wetterlings, who were supportive of the deal.

"The choice wasn't to try him for murder or not, it was to bring Jacob home or not," a federal prosecution source told PEOPLE earlier in September.

"It was important to everyone working this case that Jacob's parents understand what was happening and why, and it was important to us that they were supportive," the source said. "Now, they can give him a proper burial."

The maximum sentence for the child pornography charge is 20 years, and federal prosecutors have vowed to ask for the maximum. The source says its possible Heinrich will never walk the streets again.

After serving his 20-year sentence, Heinrich could be committed to a high-security facility through the state's sex offender program, the source explains. "He may not ever be released from custody – that would obviously be a good thing," says the source.