A woman who was killed in a fire in Bemidji was found in the home with her arms bound and her body underneath a mattress.
A mobile home owned by Melissa Norby was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived about 3:30 p.m. on June 22. When the fire was extinguished, firefighters found Norby's body under a mattress, her arms bound, according to a search warrant filed in Beltrami County. A search quickly began for a 5-year-old girl who had stayed overnight at the home. Norby was friends with the girl's mother.
The girl was found about 26 hours after the fire and Jacob W. Kinn, 32, of Bemidji, was charged with one count of kidnapping in the girls' disappearance from Norby's home. Investigators discovered that Kinn and Norby recently had rekindled a romantic relationship.
According to the criminal complaint, Kinn took the girl, bound her hands and legs, covered her mouth with duct tape, then took her to his home north of Bemidji. He eventually moved her to a camper in a desolate area near Big Fork, Minn., about 70 miles away.
The girl told investigators that Kinn had said he was not coming back.
Court records show that Kinn, who is being held in Beltrami County jail, was convicted of child pornography in 2013.
Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788
