# Cold Spring *City in Stearns County, Minnesota, and the site of a January 1989 assault in the Wetterling investigation record* Cold Spring is a city in [[Stearns County, Minnesota]], at the gateway to the Sauk River Chain of Lakes, a set of 14 bay-like lakes joined and fed by the Sauk River. It belongs to the [[St. Cloud]] metropolitan area. The 2020 census counted 4,164 residents.[^1] The city enters the Minnesota record through the [[Jacob Wetterling]] investigation. APM Reports' *In the Dark* investigation timeline records a January 1989 assault in Cold Spring. It links that assault to the October 22, 1989 abduction in St. Joseph, Stearns County.[^2] The timeline also records a February 9, 1990 arrest of a suspect who was interviewed while intoxicated and released for insufficient evidence. It further records a July 10, 2015 DNA match between a 1989 sweatshirt and a hair sample taken in 1990.[^2] The project's at-issue record states that the Cold Spring victim was twelve years old and that the link was forensic. It also states that the county "had a linked, surviving victim and a suspect in custody within four months of the abduction, and released him."[^3] The record assembled here contains no official Stearns County account of the investigation to set beside that statement.[^2] ## Where The [[United States Census Bureau]] gives the city's total area as 2.70 square miles (6.99 km²). Of that, 2.67 square miles is land and 0.03 square miles is water. The Sauk River crosses the city, entering from the southwest.[^4] The city lies inside the geographic bounds of Wakefield Township but is governed separately from it.[^4] Minnesota Highway 23 is a principal route through the city. [[Interstate 94]], the region's main highway, runs nearby and connects [[Minneapolis]], St. Paul, Fargo, Chicago and Milwaukee. County Roads 2 and 50 carry traffic north and south. Nearby St. Cloud has a regional airport and Amtrak and Greyhound stations.[^5] Both events in the Wetterling record discussed in this article took place in Stearns County. The assault took place in Cold Spring in January 1989. The abduction took place in St. Joseph on October 22, 1989.[^2] ## When The Ojibwe, Winnebago and [[Dakota]] peoples first lived on the land. The town site was platted in 1856 and named for the many springs near it. A post office has operated there without interruption since 1857.[^6] German-speaking Catholics settled the area after Francis Xavier Pierz, a Slovenian missionary priest, recruited them. He placed letters and advertisements in German-language newspapers in the United States and Europe, among them *Der Wahrheitsfreund*. In them he called the Sauk River Valley a "land flowing with milk and honey".[^6] During the grasshopper plagues of the 1870s, Assumption Chapel was built as a petition for relief from the locusts. It is also called the Grasshopper Chapel.[^6] Michael Sargl founded the Cold Spring Brewing Company in 1874.[^7] The *Cold Spring Record* has been published weekly since October 1899.[^8] Two of the city's houses listed on the National Register of Historic Places were built in 1907, and a third in 1912. The Cold Spring Bakery, first called the Home Bakery, opened in 1946.[^7] On September 24, 2003, a 15-year-old student shot and killed two classmates in the Rocori High School shooting. The shooting brought the city national attention.[^6] ## Who The brewery's founder, Michael Sargl, was a German immigrant. In August 2017, Brynwood Partners, a private equity firm based in Connecticut, bought the company from the Lenore family. Melvin and Floss Schurman started the bakery, and the Schurman family still owns and runs it.[^7] People connected with Cold Spring include National Football League player Eric Decker and film director Alvin Ganzer (1911–2009), who was born in the city. They also include two Minnesota state legislators, John J. Kinzer (1891–1986) and Doug Stang. Professional basketball player Justin Stommes graduated from Rocori High School.[^9] A Star Tribune report on the Stearns County [[sheriff]]'s account of the Wetterling case carries a characterization of the 1990 suspect interview as "perhaps the most fatal flaw".[^10] ## What The city's top employers include Coldspring, Pilgrim's Pride, the Cold Spring Brewing Company, the Rocori School District, Assumption Community and the Cold Spring Bakery. The brewery produces, packages and distributes soft drinks, beer, malt beverages and energy drinks. Its craft-beer division, the Third Street Brewhouse, began in 2012. The bakery is on [[Main Street]] and sells its goods across Central Minnesota.[^7] NBC News reported on Cold Spring as a coronavirus hot spot connected to a surge of cases at a meatpacking plant.[^11] ROCORI Independent School District 750 serves the city. Its name combines Rockville, Cold Spring and Richmond. Its public schools include John Clark Elementary, Cold Spring Elementary, Richmond Elementary, ROCORI Middle School and Rocori High School. Three private schools operate within the district, including St. Boniface Elementary (preK–6) in Cold Spring. The Great River Regional Library has a Cold Spring branch on Red River Avenue.[^12] Tri-City Cable Channel 10 is the public-access television station for Richmond, Cold Spring and Rockville. It covers community events and local government meetings.[^8] ## How much When Brynwood Partners acquired the Cold Spring Brewing Company in August 2017, the company had roughly 350 employees and annual sales of more than $60 million.[^7] ## How many The 2020 census recorded 4,164 residents and a median age of 40.8 years. Of residents, 24.9% were under 18 and 22.6% were 65 or older, and 97.3% lived in urban areas. The census counted 1,710 households, 31.2% of them with children under 18. It also counted 1,799 housing units, of which 4.9% were vacant.[^13] The 2010 census had counted 4,025 people in 1,549 households. That census recorded the city's racial makeup as 94.2% White, and Hispanic or Latino residents of any race as 7.1% of the population.[^13] The city has three properties on the National Register of Historic Places.[^6] It sits at the head of a chain of 14 lakes.[^1] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record has one item naming Cold Spring. The item, AI-Stearns-067, is filed under *The Jurisdiction Gap & the Unrecorded Record Edition*. It states that the January 1989 assault was "forensically linked to the same perpetrator nine months before the Wetterling abduction". It also states that the county "had a linked, surviving victim and a suspect in custody within four months of the abduction, and released him."[^3] The item rests on a single news source, from APM Reports.[^3] The APM timeline that the item draws on dates the arrest to February 9, 1990. It records that the suspect was interviewed while intoxicated and released for insufficient evidence.[^2] The Star Tribune report characterizes that interview as "perhaps the most fatal flaw".[^10] The record assembled here has no official Stearns County account of how the linked assault was weighed against the suspect in custody. Beyond the stated ground of insufficient evidence, it does not establish why the suspect was released.[^2] The record does show that a DNA match between a 1989 sweatshirt and a hair sample taken in 1990 was made on July 10, 2015.[^2] These events form part of the wider [[Wetterling investigation]].[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### When - January 1989: assault in Cold Spring, which the APM timeline links to the later abduction.[^2] - October 22, 1989: abduction in St. Joseph, Stearns County.[^2] - February 9, 1990: arrest of a suspect who was interviewed while intoxicated and released for insufficient evidence.[^2] - July 10, 2015: DNA match between a 1989 sweatshirt and a hair sample taken in 1990.[^2] ### Where - Cold Spring and St. Joseph, both in Stearns County, Minnesota.[^2] ### What - The at-issue item states that the January 1989 assault was of a twelve-year-old and was forensically linked to the same perpetrator.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Cold Spring, Minnesota*, lead section (revision 1378542386, retrieved 2026-10-27) — location in Stearns County and the St. Cloud metropolitan area; the 14-lake Sauk River Chain; 2020 population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_Minnesota [^2]: APM Reports, *In the Dark: Jacob Wetterling investigation timeline* (undated in the record) — the January 1989 Cold Spring assault and its link to the October 22, 1989 St. Joseph abduction; the February 9, 1990 arrest and release of a suspect interviewed while intoxicated; the July 10, 2015 DNA match. https://features.apmreports.org/in-the-dark/jacob-wetterling-investigation-timeline/ [^3]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, item AI-Stearns-067, *The Jurisdiction Gap & the Unrecorded Record Edition* (research file RESEARCH_Wetterling_Diocese.md ¶2, ¶12–13; one news source, features.apmreports.org) — the item's statements on the 1989 assault, the victim's age, the forensic link and the release of a suspect. https://features.apmreports.org/in-the-dark/jacob-wetterling-investigation-timeline/ [^4]: Wikipedia, *Cold Spring, Minnesota*, Geography section (revision 1378542386) — Census Bureau area figures; the Sauk River; relation to Wakefield Township. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_Minnesota [^5]: Wikipedia, *Cold Spring, Minnesota*, Transportation section (revision 1378542386) — Highway 23, Interstate 94, County Roads 2 and 50, St. Cloud airport and stations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_Minnesota [^6]: Wikipedia, *Cold Spring, Minnesota*, History section (revision 1378542386) — original inhabitants; 1856 platting; 1857 post office; Pierz recruitment; Assumption Chapel; National Register properties; the 2003 Rocori High School shooting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_Minnesota [^7]: Wikipedia, *Cold Spring, Minnesota*, Economy section (revision 1378542386) — top employers; Cold Spring Brewing Company history, 2017 sale, employees and sales; Cold Spring Bakery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_Minnesota [^8]: Wikipedia, *Cold Spring, Minnesota*, Media section (revision 1378542386) — *Cold Spring Record* since October 1899; Tri-City Cable Channel 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_Minnesota [^9]: Wikipedia, *Cold Spring, Minnesota*, Notable people section (revision 1378542386) — people connected with the city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_Minnesota [^10]: Star Tribune, report on the Stearns County sheriff's account of the Wetterling case (undated in the record) — the "perhaps the most fatal flaw" characterization of the 1990 suspect interview. https://www.startribune.com/stearns-county-sheriff-says-jacob-wetterling-case-went-off-the-rails/493816581/ [^11]: NBC News, report on a Minnesota coronavirus hot spot connected to a meatpacking plant (undated in the record) — Cold Spring as a meatpacking-related hot spot. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coronavirus-hot-spot-minnesota-connected-surge-cases-meatpacking-plant-n1206176 [^12]: Wikipedia, *Cold Spring, Minnesota*, Education section (revision 1378542386) — ROCORI Independent School District 750 and its schools; private schools; Great River Regional Library branch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_Minnesota [^13]: Wikipedia, *Cold Spring, Minnesota*, Demographics section (revision 1378542386) — 2020 and 2010 census figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring,_Minnesota