It was 23 years ago today that a masked gunman abducted 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling as he, his brother and a friend were biking home from a trip to a convenience store in rural St. Joseph, Minnesota. Like Jodi Huisentruit, Jacob has never been found, leaving their families with the heartache of their loss and the anguish of not knowing what happened to them.
Jacob’s mom, Patty Wetterling, was the very last person I interviewed before I left my career as a crime reporter at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis for a new position as a news manager at KSBY-TV in California in 2011. Every year on this sad anniversary, I think of Patty, her husband Jerry and their three children.
The Wetterlings are an amazing family.
Patty Wetterling has dedicated her life to protecting children and raising awareness about child abuse. I keep a small rock she have me on my desk in Santa Maria, CA. It is inscribed with the word “hope “on it.
It is my hope that another anniversary doesn’t go by without answers to what happened to Jacob Wetterling on a Sunday night in October.
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