Woman in Bemidji fire may have aided child abduction plot

Jacob William Kinn likely did not act alone earlier this summer when police say he kidnapped a 5-year-old girl from a trailer house in Bemidji, according to a search warrant filed late last month.

The warrant says investigators believe Melissa Norby, whose body was found in the trailer's burned out wreckage, helped Kinn plan the abduction.

Norby was a longtime friend of the girl's family. The girl was staying with Norby at her trailer house north of Bemidji the night she was taken. In the morning hours of June 22, fire crews were called to Norby's trailer.

The structure was engulfed by the time they arrived. Authorities later discovered Norby's body inside, tied by the wrists under a bed. Investigators said gasoline was used to start the blaze.

A 24-hour missing person investigation found the girl alive, tied with duct tape in a pop-up camper north of Bemidji. Kinn, a 32-year-old food truck operator with a previous child pornography conviction, was arrested and charged with her kidnapping.

Police initially believed he planned the crime alone, but cell phone and social media records recently have come to light. Investigators found several cell phones and a laptop computer dumped down an outhouse near the camper where the girl was found.

They were able to recover the contents of the devices. According to the search warrant, they found child pornography on the cell phones, along with a series of text messages to and from Norby, planning the girl's abduction.

Their plan involved Norby telling police an unknown person assaulted her, then took the girl.

Police say Kinn admitted he and Norby used the girl to "enhance his and Norby's sexual experience," starting a year and a half ago.

Investigators are seeking access to Kinn's email and Dropbox accounts.

Kinn faces a kidnapping charge, but has not been charged for any possible role in Norby's death or the mobile home fire. He's due in court next month.