ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – If you're from Minnesota, you know his face, name and story.
Few of us may have actually met the Wetterling family, but we all feel connected to them.
And it's all because of one boy: Jacob.
On Oct. 22, 1989, Jacob, his brother and friend were walking home from a convenience store in rural St. Joseph, when a masked gunman took Jacob away from his family and community. The man never gave Jacob back. And 25 years later – as Mother Nature again saves her most vivid palette for yet another somber anniversary – the family is left to wonder: will Jacob ever come home?
"Every October is hard for us, the leaves start changing. We're reminded – we hear from people. It's just a very pensive, thoughtful time for us anyway. This one's harder," Patty Wetterling told KARE 11 on a recent fall day.
Patty and Jerry Wetterling never imagined they'd mark a 25th "anniversary" of their son's abduction. They always hoped they'd find answers before they reached this milestone.
"It's too long. It's just been too long. I don't know. It's… 25 years in other facets is like, it's like a celebration time. It's a silver anniversary," Jerry said, adding, "In some ways, we haven't progressed from day one. We still need answers. We don't know what happened."
Through the years, the Wetterlings have watched with the wider community as the investigation has followed an unpredictable path -- with law enforcement digging for clues in a neighbor's yard one year, and interviewing inmates as possible suspects another year. But decades have not made the difference: they still don't know what happened to Jacob.
"It's not just our family that needs to know the answers. The entire state of Minnesota, if not nation wonders, 'Where is Jacob? What happened? Who did this?' We all need to know," Patty said.
AT LEAST, THERE'S JOY
But while the Wetterlings wait for answers, they've at least found Joy.
In 2010, Joy Baker began writing a blog about the 25-year-old mystery. The freelance writer and mother of two boys herself was searching for a new project when she started thinking about delving into Jacob's case. And then, one day, she turned on the T.V. and discovered a new development in the case.
"I thought, well, that must be a sign. I'm going to write about Jacob Wetterling," the author of "Joy-the-Curious" said.
A passion that "found her" soon grew into a vocation. Joy has written extensively about details related to the case: interviewing people considered persons of interest, profiling the person who last saw Jacob that night and also connecting the dots to similar cases in a town not far from St. Joseph.
"I do think that the Paynesville incidents were important – are important. And I never meant to say that these have never been looked at before, because they were. However, I don't think they were looked at maybe enough," Joy said.
Joy believes at least 11 other cases involving attacks on children in Paynesville – only 30 miles from St. Joseph – may be connected to Jacob's case. The conclusion drew the renewed attention of investigators and one more.
HIS OWN ANNIVERSARY
KARE 11 first interviewed Jared Scheierl in 2004. It was then that we learned that before there was Jacob, there was Jared – a 12-year-old boy abducted and assaulted in nearby Cold Spring in January 1989.
"I've always wondered, 'Why me? If I am associated with the Wetterling case, why am I here to talk about it and Jacob isn't?'" Jared told KARE 11.
When Jared learned about Joy's research, he decided to join her efforts. Jared was able to reach out to the possible Paynesville victims and encourage them to share their stories – in part, he says, because he shares a bond with them. He now believes he's not the only survivor of the man who may have attacked many children in the area.
"Talking to some of these people, you realize that I'm not alone, and I'm speaking for a larger audience when it comes to this case," Jared said.
"They feel like they understand what I'm looking for and they feel that they can associate with me and aid in this research," he said.
And that research has led Jared to believe he's closer to a conclusion in his case than ever. And if he's able to find answers for the boy he was, he's also hopeful he'll find answers for Jacob.
"He's never had a voice in any of this. And that's hard – hard for the family," he said.
'WE COULDN'T STAND ALONE'
Back in St. Joseph, the bedroom that once belonged to two brothers still has signs of boyhood: Michael Jordan pictures alongside school pictures of an 11-year-old Jacob.
In this room, time has both moved on and stood still. The Wetterling's growing family demanded others rest in the room, where Patty too sometimes found peace.
"It was kind of a sacred place. I'd come down here and just be for a while," she said.
There are other places that remind the Wetterlings of their journey: Jerry often reflects at a large rock placed in a nearby park in Jacob's honor by kids at his old school. And of course, there's the abduction site – about a quarter-mile from the Wetterling home.
"I say a little prayer every time I drive by that abduction site because we can't go anywhere without thinking of him," Patty said.
The Wetterlings remain grateful for what they've managed to keep, despite their overwhelming loss.
"I've said it many times, I refuse to let the man who took Jacob take anything more. You can't have our family. You can't have our other kids. You can't have that world that Jacob knew and that we believe in," Patty said.
Both Jerry and Patty say the "hopes and prayers of so many people" throughout Minnesota have carried them these last years, including those times "when we couldn't stand alone," Patty said.
But Jerry believes it is Patty's strength that symbolizes their 25-year journey.
"Her going out and speaking and caring and just showing that she's not going to give up," he said.
Patty struggles to accept the praise.
"It really is hard for me to sit back and analyze everything I've quote, 'done,' because it doesn't feel like…" said Patty before starting to cry.
HARDER THIS TIME
There's no question, to the KARE 11 staff who've had the honor of interviewing the Wetterlings over the years, that this year is different for this family. Patty and Jerry remain desperate for answers. And while they find peace every day in their growing family – their three other children and six grandchildren, including a nearly 6-year-old grandson named Jacob – they need to know. That's why they sit before cameras this October. That's why they hope, once again, their pleas may be heard.
"If somebody did it, that would be a pretty heavy thing to live with. It's time to come forward. Give us the answers. Where is Jacob?" Patty said.
"When you have a child, you make this promise to them, you will be there. You'll be there. And that's what we're trying to do, still be there," she said.
On Oct. 22, the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center is asking everyone to leave their porch light on to honor Jacob. They also encourage everyone to mark this anniversary by bringing "hope and light into the world" by doing something positive for or with children that day. Click here for a list of suggested activities.
