Jacob Wetterling: missing a quarter-century

It will be 25 years next month since Jacob Wetterling was abducted by a masked gunman as the 11-year-old boy biked home with his brother and a friend from a convenience store in St. Joseph, MN.

He hasn’t been seen since.

John Walsh profiled the Wetterling case Sunday night on his new show on CNN: The Hunt.

Walsh’s son 6-year-old son Adam was abducted and murdered in Florida in 1981.

He and Jacob’s mother, Patty Wetterling, have become two of the highest-profile child safety advocates in the country.

Jerry and Patty Wetterling (Source: UnsolvedMysteries.us)

As a crime reporter in Minnesota, I often interviewed Patty and her family on the anniversaries of Jacob’s abduction.

Each time, I hoped someone watching the story might know something and call police with a piece of information that would lead them to Jacob.

Jodi Huisentruit covered Jacob’s case when she getting her start in television news and would continue to cover updates on his case until a couple years later when Jodi herself was also abducted in Mason City, Iowa. She was on her way to work at KIMT-TV as a morning news anchor.

Almost a quarter century after Jacob’s abduction, he and Jodi are both still missing.

Caroline’s interview with Patty Wetterling (Source: WCCO-TV April 2011)

I hope the John Walsh report on Jacob Wetterling prompts someone with information to contact law enforcement so his family and entire community in Minnesota will finally know what happened to Jacob.

I also hope Walsh’s show will help solve other cases, including Jodi’s…by keeping them in the spotlight.

Watch Caroline’s extended interview with Patty Wetterling (Bottom of page)
Read the five questions Jacob’s mother Patty would ask his abductor if she was given the chance.