{"id":63819,"date":"2026-01-22T14:05:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T19:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/?p=63819"},"modified":"2026-01-22T14:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T19:10:12","slug":"minnesota-man-charged-with-kidnapping-7-year-old-brynlee-nelson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/minnesota-man-charged-with-kidnapping-7-year-old-brynlee-nelson\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota man charged with kidnapping 7-year-old Brynlee Nelson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A 28-year-old Minnesota man, Joseph Bragg, has been charged in the kidnapping of 7-year-old Brynlee Nelson in Zimmerman, police announced on Thursday. The girl was found after an hours-long search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brynlee was kidnapped just before 4 p.m. on Wednesday after getting off a school bus in the 26000 block of 13th Street West in Zimmerman, in Sherburne County, about 33 miles northwest of Minneapolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her family reported her missing at 6:30 p.m., prompting a massive search effort in the surrounding area. A black car initially believed to have followed the school bus was later determined not to be involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commander Ben Zawacki, of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office, said an amber alert was issued<\/a> at 11:40 p.m. after information was developed that indicated Brynlee had likely been abducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Through investigation and use of technology, investigators identified a white Dodge Ram pickup as a suspect vehicle and issued an emergency alert to law enforcement agencies at 12:38 a.m. today,” Zawacki said.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Photos of Brynlee, including from surveillance video shortly before she was kidnapped.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Less than 30 minutes later, officers in Freeborn County, south of Minneapolis, located the vehicle and found Brynlee with the suspect, who was identified as 28-year-old Joseph Andrew Bragg, who has no known permanent address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bragg was booked on kidnapping charges but specific details about the allegations against him were not immediately released. There was no word on a possible motive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We want to thank the numerous law enforcement and first responders who assisted in the search,” the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “We also want to thank the hundreds of volunteers who came out to assist in the search.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 28-year-old Minnesota man, Joseph Bragg, has been charged in the kidnapping of 7-year-old Brynlee Nelson in Zimmerman, police announced on Thursday. The girl was found after an hours-long search. Brynlee was kidnapped just before 4 p.m. on Wednesday after getting off a school bus in the 26000 block of 13th Street West in Zimmerman, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2],"tags":[69,1224,82,151,4197],"class_list":["post-63819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal","category-usnews","tag-amber-alert","tag-minnesota","tag-missing-child","tag-united-states","tag-zimmerman-minnesota"],"yoast_head":"\nMinnesota man charged with kidnapping 7-year-old Brynlee Nelson - BNO News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/minnesota-man-charged-with-kidnapping-7-year-old-brynlee-nelson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minnesota man charged with kidnapping 7-year-old Brynlee Nelson - BNO News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 28-year-old Minnesota man, Joseph Bragg, has been charged in the kidnapping of 7-year-old Brynlee Nelson in Zimmerman, police announced on Thursday. 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