Jacob Wetterling’s kidnapping case is back in focus after ABC released the latest 20/20 episode Where are you Jacob? on Friday, July 17. The case has also renewed interest in Wetterling’s family, as many are wondering where his parents, Jerry and Patty are at present.
Before going into that, here’s what you need to know about the Jacob Wetterling kidnapping.
Wetterling was kidnapped on October 22, 1989, when he was 11. The boy was riding a bike in rural St. Joseph, Minnesota. The case grew into a national search and Wetterling was only found decades later. His assailant was identified as Danny Heinrich, in 2016, and he led authorities to where Wetterling’s body was buried near Paynesville. At present, Wetterling is buried at the Saint John’s Abbey Friends Cemetery in Collegeville, Stearns County, Minnesota.
Here’s where Jacob Wetterling’s parents are today.
Where are Jerry and Patty Wetterling now? Latest update
Jerry and Patty Wetterling continue to live in St Joseph, Minnesota, as per the latest reports. MPR News reported that filmmaker Chris Newberry sat down with Wetterling’s parents there in 2017, to interview them for Echoes in the Night: The Search for Jacob Wetterling, a documentary on the tragic case.
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Patty Wetterling recalled the close relationship she and Jerry had with their children – Amy, Jacob, Trevor, and Carmen. Speaking to 20/20, she said “I was a stay-at-home mom. We just played. It was fun.”
Following Wetterling’s kidnapping, Patty became an American advocate of children’s safety and also the chair of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, as per reports.
In 2023, she co-authored the book Dear Jacob with Joy Baker, of New London.
The new ABC episode on Wetterling includes interviews with Patty, Caroline Lowe – the veteran Minnesota reporter who covered the abduction, as well as an updated interview with Jared Scheierl. Nine months before Wetterling was kidnapped, Jared was abducted by Heinrich, who sexually assaulted him.
“After the incident was done, then he got back in his car and dropped me on the outside of Cold Spring, and told me to, ‘Run, don’t look back,’ or he’d shoot,” Jared told ABC.
However, the perpetrator could not be charged for this crime as the statute of limitations had passed.
In Wetterling’s case, the 11-year-old was riding home from a convenience store with his brother, who was 10 at the time, and his best friend. A masked man approached the three boys on the street and kidnapped Jacob. He told the other two boys to run home and not look back, threatening to shoot them if they didn’t listen to him.
