The Jurgens File recounts true events that happened in Minnesota in the mid-Twentieth Century. A baby boy was born to a sixteen year-old ward of the state who was forced to give him up for adoption; twenty years later she sought to contact what she believed would be her adult son only to discover he died at the age of three under suspicious circumstances. The story moves backwards and forwards in time viewing the events that led up to his death and the eventual cover-up as recounted by family members, neighbors, police officers, social workers and other members of the quiet, suburban community where the action takes place. While some characters are composites and some of the events are compressed in the interest of time, the story depicted is true and is taken directly from court documents and the extensive media coverage that followed the case.