ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — Patty Wetterling became the voice of speaking out for missing children. Now, she’s written a personal and touching book about it, called It centers on the tragic kidnapping and murder of her 11-year-old son, Jacob Wetterling.
“Jacob was loving, caring and thoughtful,” Patty told me. “Jacob was fun. He was very clever. He liked to play tricks and jokes on people. He was very good at sports. He loved his family.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The powerful book — which releases Tuesday, Oct. 17 — provides lots of new and compelling information, while letting us know what Patty was thinking throughout this brutal journey.
“It was absolutely therapeutic for me to write it,” Patty said. “It provides clarity to clear up how things were going. Everyone knows the public side. It’s a recap of things that never became public. It’s about the personal side — how it impacted our marriage and the lives of our children. It was reflective and helpful for me to write a complete journey.”
Joy Baker is the co-author of the book. She met Patty in 2013, and after a short while they became good friends. Joy was blogging about Jacob’s abduction and was determined to find out what happened to him. With her extensive research, Joy even helped solve the case.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about Jacob,” Joy told me. “I wanted to highlight Jacob’s legacy. Jacob is very real and special to me. I feel like I know him. I want people to know what an amazing person Patty is. I love Patty, and I love this family.”
The abduction
Life changed forever for the Wetterling family of two parents and four children on Oct. 22, 1989. Jacob, his 10-year-old brother Trevor and 11-year-old friend Aaron Larson were biking home from a convenience store in St. Joseph, Minnesota. Suddenly, a man appeared wearing a mask and pointing a gun at the three boys. He ordered the boys to get off their bikes and lie face-down on the ground.
After asking each boy his age, Trevor was told to run toward the woods and not look back. Otherwise, he would be shot. After looking at the faces of Jacob and Aaron, the gunman ordered Aaron to run away and told him he would be shot if he looked back.
Jacob was ordered to stay. He was abducted.
ADVERTISEMENT
Patty and her husband, Jerry, were at a friend’s house at the time. A phone call came in, and the phone was given to Jerry.
“Jerry said, ‘We’ve got to go. Somebody took Jacob,’” Patty said. “I looked at him like he was from a different planet.”
It was all so incomprehensible.
“I was in shock,” Patty said. “I didn’t understand it. It made no sense to me. I couldn’t process it. I had no knowledge of anyone who would harm a child. I needed to know what happened and who did this. I had no clue of what we were walking into.”
Rallying around the Wetterlings
For 27 agonizing years, there was no word about what happened to Jacob. Reports came in about possible sightings of him, but they were false. One person even stole Jacob’s identity.
“It was very scary,” Patty said. “I didn’t know if we were targeted. I was afraid to leave the house because I was hoping Jacob would call. I saw fear and terror in my kids. I didn’t want them to live their lives like that. We had a lot of family meetings. It brought the family closer.”
Despite the pain, Patty was everywhere helping to raise awareness about missing children. She spoke at schools and churches, did many interviews with the media and came to Fargo to help the family of who was missing. She felt her purpose in life was to carry the message of child safety. She constantly wrote letters to Jacob telling him how much he was missed and loved.
ADVERTISEMENT
Jacob became everyone’s child. Not just in Minnesota, but throughout the country. Many people had their porch lights on. They tied white ribbons around their mailboxes. They wore badges that said “Jacob’s Hope.” They held prayer services, distributed flyers, brought food to the family and wrote thousands of letters to the Wetterling family. The letter writers told the Wetterlings not to give up, that they are not alone and that they are praying for them.
Patty read every letter at least once.
“I learned this was much bigger than Jacob. I heard from families with victims,“ Patty said. “There was so much support for our family. We didn’t do this alone. It was overwhelming. People carried us when we couldn’t stand on our own. People carried Jacob. I was so grateful.”
Many actions were taken to protect children under Jacob’s name. The Jacob Wetterling Act passed Congress and was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1994. That act required sex offenders who abused children to register their addresses with law enforcement. There was also the establishment of the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, which works to prevent crimes against children.
“Because of Patty, kids now have a voice that they didn’t have before,” Joy said. “We now have a national center for missing children that has been so effective. Parents hold on to their children a little tighter and listen to their children.”
'Like living in Hell'
Finally, things started moving in the search for what happened to Jacob. Joy tracked down Jared Scheierl, who at age 12 had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted the same year as Jacob in a nearby Minnesota town. The perpetrator used similar language to what happened during Jacob’s abduction. Joy convinced Jared to come forward with his story. The DNA in Jared’s case was matched to a man named Danny Heinrich.
ADVERTISEMENT
After receiving a search warrant, law authorities searched Heinrich’s house, where they found about 150 images of child pornography. Heinrich was arrested in October of 2015. Law enforcement was convinced Heinrich kidnapped Jacob but didn’t know the circumstances.
In a plea deal in September of 2016, Heinrich, 53, agreed to a 20-year sentence for possessing child pornography in return for confessing to what happened to Jacob. It’s highly unlikely that Heinrich will ever be released from prison.
Patty and Jerry Wetterling were then told the chilling and shocking details of Heinrich’s brutality. He forced Jacob to get into his car and handcuffed him.
“What did I do wrong?” Jacob asked, according to Heinrich.
Heinrich drove to a tree stand, removed Jacob’s clothes and the handcuffs, and molested him. Afterwards, Jacob asked if he could go home, but Heinrich said he couldn’t do that. Then, Jacob started to cry. Shortly after that, Heinrich shot Jacob twice in the head and killed him.
Heinrich told authorities he buried Jacob’s body near Paynesville, Minnesota. With that information, authorities found Jacob’s remains and clothing.
Patty said the pain of hearing all this was unlike anything she had ever experienced. The hope she had lived on was gone.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We were horrified. It was stunning," Patty said. “I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t think. We had to tell the children what was going on, which was the worst moment ever. It was like living Hell. I wondered how someone could do this to my little boy.”
Patty also needed answers.
“I wrote a letter to the abductor. I asked him how he turned out this way,” Patty said.
He did not write back.
Hope, resilience and strength
However, the tributes soon started pouring in. People throughout Minnesota were wearing the number 11, which was Jacob’s soccer uniform number. The number also stood for 11 traits to strive for, such as being kind, honest and generous. Minnesota’s pro sports teams all held special events to honor Jacob.
Still, the whole nightmare took its toll on Patty.
“I’m a different person now,” she said. “It was a dark world. I had to find some light. I had a lot of counseling. I refused to let the guy who took Jacob take away my spirit.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Despite what happened to Jacob, the authors of the book want readers to come away being more optimistic.
“It’s written with hope and resilience and how strong family is,“ Joy said. “This is not meant to be a sad story. This is meant to be more motivational because of Patty’s efforts.”
“I want people to believe in a world that’s good and kind,” Patty said. “I want to honor Jacob for the way he lived, not the way he died. I carry Jacob in my heart. He’s everywhere. I hear him. I am grateful for the gift of Jacob. I miss him, but we were very lucky to have him.”
The Trust Project
