25 Years Later, Jacob Wetterling’s Mother Recalls Abduction
(credit: CBS)
Susie Jones
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Patty and Jerry Wetterling will spend Wednesday surrounded by friends and family.
Patty Wetterling said there’s likely to be tears, and laughter.
Her son Jacob was 11 years old when he was abducted by an armed man wearing a mask.
She says Jacob has become Minnesota’s son over the years.
“Much like when Kennedy was shot, or 911, and in Minnesota, people remember where they were when they heard Jacob was kidnapped,” Wetterling said.
She has become friends over the years with people like Jaycee Dugard’s mother .Jaycee made it home after being kidnapped for years.
“I study the cases of kids who make it home, and I ask, ‘What haven’t I done?’ and I will keep trying until I get answers,” Wetterling said.
There has never been a memorial for Jacob.
“At what point do you say, ‘Oh, I’m tired, and I’m giving up?’ I want to look Jacob in the eye and say, ‘I never gave up,'” Wetterling said.
She remembers how difficult those first days and months were, without Jacob and the pressure it put on the family.
A law enforcement official noticed the tension, and made a suggestion that she says saved her marriage.
“They sat us down and said we can see that you are struggling,” Wetterling said. “And we want Jacob to have a family to come home to, and we want you to get help.”
There are new billboards up in the area where he was taken, and Wetterling says she hopes it will help someone have the courage to come forward with information that will give her and her family answers.
