40 replies to this topic

[Lori Davis]

Age-progressed to 29 years



Jacob Erwin Wetterling

DOB:  Feb 17, 1978
Missing:  Oct 22, 1989
Age at time of disappearance: 11
Sex:  Male
Race:  White
Hair:  Brown
Eyes:  Blue
Height:  5'0" (152 cm)
Weight:  75 lbs (34 kg)
Missing From:
Saint Joesph,Minnesota
United States
 
Jacob's photo is shown age-progressed to 29 years. He was last seen at approximately 9:00 p.m. He was with his brother and another friend when they were threatened at gunpoint by an unknown individual. Jacob has a mole on his left cheek, a mole on his neck and a scar on his knee.

Contact Information:
Stearns County Sheriff's Office (Minnesota) 
1-320-259-3700

View Poster

[Lori Davis]

http://www.amw.com/m...ef.cfm?id=24521

AMW profile for Jacob Wetterling

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wdio.com/...shtml?cat=10335

Adam Walsh Case A Reminder of Minnesota Missing Children
Created on: 12/17/2008 05:29:52 PM
By: Laura Kennedy
 
After 27 years, Adam Walsh's murderer has been named. His father, John Walsh, says he's relieved the waiting is finally over.

"It's about justice," said Walsh. "It's not about revenge or vigilantism. It's not about closure. We'll always--Reve always says we'll have that hole in our heart for the rest of our lives. But it's about justice and yesterday ended that chapter in our lives."

But two local families are still searching for justice and closure.

Perhaps the most famous Minnesota child abduction case is that of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling. On October 22, 1989, Jacob was riding bikes with his brother and a friend near his home in St. Joseph when a masked gunman approached them. The man told Jacob's brother and friend to run and not look back or he would shoot them. The man then grabbed Jacob by the elbow and walked toward a wooded area. Jacob has not been seen or heard from since.

Authorities have gotten multiple tips and possible leads in the Wetterling case, most recently in 2004 when a man resembling Jacob was found in Warroad. A fingerprint sample proved the man was not Jacob. Almost 20 years later, the case is still unsolved.

On June 14, 2003, 5-year-old Leanna Warner, also known as "Beaner," went missing near her home in Chisholm. She was last seen around 5 p.m. on her way to a friend's house. When her parents hadn't heard from her 45 minutes later, they launched a frantic neighborhood search. But there was no sign of Leanna.

However, police say they aren't giving up. The investigation is open and police are still looking for leads in Leanna's disappearance.

Even though they now have their answer, the Walshes continue to mourn the loss of their son. But they take comfort in knowing Adam's death helped revolutionize the way authorities handle missing children cases.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.twincitie...rce=most_viewed

Search of Milwaukee man's home reveals disturbing links to Wetterling abduction
By Tad Vezner
Updated: 01/06/2009 08:51:32 PM CST

This is a 1989 family photo of Jacob Wetterling, who was abducted at gunpoint near his home in St. Joseph, Minn., on Oct. 22, 1989. Jacob, who was 11 years old at the time, has not been found. (AP)A discovery in the Milwaukee home of a man who visited Patty Wetterling soon after her 11-year-old son, Jacob, was abducted in 1989, has brought a disturbing chapter to the decades-old search.

Last month, police found Vernon Seitz, 62, of Milwaukee, dead in his home. He appeared to have died of natural causes.

Police went to the home after Seitz's psychiatrist told them he had admitted to killing two children in 1958, and wanted to confess. Seitz, who owned "Vern's Barber Shop" in St. Francis, a Milwaukee suburb, would have been 12 years old at the time.

In the home, police found child pornography paintings of young boys being tortured, books on cannibalism, and fliers and news articles about missing children from nearby communities.

They also found several items pertaining to Jacob Wetterling, including "numerous letters, maps, news stories," a photo of Wetterling and a video of him prior to his abduction.

Looking around further, the investigator found newly poured cement in the basement, along with bondage devices hanging from the rafters. Tufts of hair were also found in the basement; outside the investigator found piles of dirt.

In Oct. 22, 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted by a masked gunman while playing with his brother and a friend near his home in St. Joseph.

Police departments across the country received hundreds of calls claiming sightings of Jacob, but none were ever verified.

Patty Wetterling said Tuesday that Seitz had come to visit her twice soon after the abduction claiming to be a psychic and wanting to help. He had even given her a painting of Jacob.

"He seemed to care, and he shared that he had his own personal reason to care," she said, noting that Seitz had had an abusive incident happen to him in the past.

She said Seitz seemed troubled — but did not want to jump to conclusions, and noted that many people like Seitz had come to visit her after the abduction received national attention.

"It's not uncommon for us to hear about leads like this. They're awful, but they're not uncommon. I refuse to think about more of this type of scenario than I have to right now... This is not the ending I want, this isn't what I would like to see for any family," she said.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.myfoxtwin...TY&pageId=3.2.1

Possible Wetterling Connection to Milwaukee Man's Deathbed Claim 
Cannibalism books, kids' shoes, porn found in dead man's home 
Last Edited: Tuesday, 06 Jan 2009, 8:52 PM CST 
Created: Tuesday, 06 Jan 2009, 8:45 PM CST 

MILWAUKEE (FOX 9) -- A Milwaukee barber has made a deathbed claim that he killed two boys, and investigators have found several items relating to Jacob Wetterling's disappearance in his home. But the man died three weeks ago, before investigators could talk to him.

The evidence found in 62-year-old Vernon Seitz's home is disturbing. Child porn, children's shoes, and pictures of missing kids -- including Jacob Wetterling. In 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted in St. Joseph and has never been found.

At this point, the evidence is circumstantial, but Milwaukee Police are investigating.

Seitz claims to have been involved in the murder of children -- but has since died. The suburban Milwaukee barber died of natural causes last month, just days after he gave his psychiatrist permission to tell police he was forced to murder two boys in 1958. It's a story his psychiatrist says may have been a figment of his imagination, as it's been told to her throughout the years with many variations.

"I'm extremely unhappy that I am quoted as saying to police that he confessed to crimes that he never confessed whatsoever," says Dr. Victoria Fetter, adding that Seitz never once mentioned Jacob Wetterling.

When Milwaukee Police searched Seitz's home, they found several pictures of Jacob Wetterling, "missing" posters, and a map of St. Joseph, Minnesota, where he was abducted.

There was also memorabilia of other missing children, a child's sneakers, human hair, books on cannibalism, and child pornography in the form of videos, photos, drawings, and paintings.

Hearing of the possible link, Jacob's mother Patty Wetterling said, "For me, I just take a deep breath, and let police investigators do their job." 

Patty Wetterling says she actually met Vernon Seitz years ago. He claimed to be a psychic who wanted to help her find Jacob. Back then, she says, "We listened to anyone who thought they could help find Jacob."

In Seitz's basement, police found newly-poured cement and elevated dirt piles.

But Milwaukee Police says they don't believe there's a connection to Jacob Wetterling, or any other missing child. Authorities won't say whether they intend to or already have excavated any part of the Seitz home, but they do say they are close to wrapping up the case.

His psychiatrist points out that Seitz claimed he was forced to kill a child in Racine, Wis. in 1958, when he was only 12. But no evidence was found to support that.

In 1998, Seitz spent time in St. Joseph, helping search for Jacob. He spend a week there, staying at the Super 8 Motel.

A St. Cloud woman, who has followed the case closely, says that Seitz told her he was abducted as a child at the Milwaukee Zoo. He said he was forced to have sex with his abductor and forced to shoot another boy. The informant even recorded Seitz talking about the episode.

"It comes in a dream state but not so much if I take my drugs. But I also have waking flashbacks. Makes me very miserable. The reason I sought psychiatric help was that it made me suicidal," said Seitz on the recording.

Dr. Fetter says Seitz shared that incident in his childhood with her. Seitz claimed he had repressed memories of his own abduction, but Jacob's highly-publicized kidnapping brought his own memories back. At the time, that's how he explained his seeming obsession with the search for Jacob to people.

For years, a Jacob Wetterling "Missing" poster hung in Vernon Seitz's barber shop. A long-time customer told FOX 9, "Some people fish, some hunt and I guess, he just liked to look for missing kids."

[Jenn]

http://www.foxnews.c...,477384,00.html

Mystery Remains After Wisconsin Man's Deathbed 'Confession'

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

MILWAUKEE —  Milwaukee police have investigated a suburban barber's reported deathbed statement that he was a child killer but found no connection with any missing child case, including that of a Minnesota boy abducted two decades ago, a police spokeswoman said Tuesday night.

Search warrant documents obtained by WTMJ-TV showed the 62-year-old man told his psychiatrist of the killing and the psychiatrist notified police, but the man died from natural causes Dec. 15 before investigators could question him.

According to the station, searches of the man's residence since the death found newly poured cement in the basement, elevated dirt piles in the yard, bondage devices in the basement, child pornography on his bed and flyers and news articles about missing small children from nearby states.

Some materials involved the case of Jacob Wetterling, an 11-year-old boy who was abducted from St. Joseph, Minn., on Oct. 22, 1989, and has never been found.

No human remains were found in the basement or yard, the station said, and relatives said the man, a native of nearby Racine, had a great concern for child abduction victims, having been abducted as a child himself.

Police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz acknowledged that there were unusual things found in the search, but she told The Associated Press that the investigation didn't come up with anything to show a connection with missing children.

"To suggest that this guy had anything to do with these missing children cases is absolutely inaccurate," she said.

Jacob's mother, Patty Wetterling, told KARE-TV in the Twin Cities that she had met the man a long time ago when he came to Minnesota "with psychic information," indicating he wanted to help find the boy.

[Jenn]

http://topnews.us/co...erplexes-police

Wisconsin barber’s deathbed ‘confession’ perplexes police

Submitted by Medha Sood on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 09:44

The deathbed statement of a Wisconsin barber has become a sort of mystery for the Milwaukee police! Though the 62-year-old man, Vernon Seitz, said that he was a child killer, the police believe the man actually did not kill any children, as no connection could be established with any missing child case.

Seitz, who was the owner of Vern's Barber Shop in St. Francis, died December 18 in his Bay View home. Before dying a natural death, he told his psychiatrist of his 'child killings'; the psychiatrist later informed the police.

The disturbing discovery that the police made on entering the home of the dead man - having found child pornography, flyers and news articles about missing children and cannibalistic books - appear more like leavings of a disturbed individual.

The investigators, having looked through Seitz's home, said the dead man's collection included a lot of information about Jacob Wetterling - a Minnesota boy, who went missing in 1989 and has never been found. However, no human remains were found from the house.

On being questioned the relatives of Seitz told the police that he had a great concern for child abduction victims, as he himself had been abducted when he was a child.

Even though Anne E. Schwartz, the Police spokeswoman, admitted that some 'unusual' things were found in Seitz's home, she told The Associated Press that the investigation did not reveal any correlation with missing children.

[Jenn]

http://www.jsonline....n/37188529.html

Dead barber's home yields creepy stash

By Jesse Garza of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Jan. 6, 2009

Police searching the home of a deceased St. Francis barber who claimed he was involved in murders of two boys 50 years ago found child pornography, newspaper clippings and fliers on missing children, bondage devices and paintings depicting child torture.

However, no physical evidence connecting the man to any murders was discovered during the search of the Bay View home, and Milwaukee police said they cannot prove Vernon Seitz was involved in any child homicides or missing children cases.

"We've exhausted all the leads in this case. This is not an active investigation," Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said Tuesday.

"If we receive information from someone that gives us a concrete lead to follow, we certainly will, but at this point, there is no such information that has been shared with us."

Still, news of the search results traveled quickly to the Twin Cities, after several of the items in Seitz's Bay View home and St. Francis barbershop were linked to the name of a boy missing from there since 1989.

The search of Seitz's home in mid-December yielded a number of disturbing discoveries, including books on how to perform cannibalism, bondage devices, newly poured cement in the basement and elevated piles of dirt in the yard, according to a police affidavit used to obtain a search warrant.

According to the affidavit, Milwaukee police found Seitz, 62, dead of apparent natural causes in his home in the 900 block of E. Conway St. on Dec. 15. A detective had been sent to interview Seitz after being told by Milwaukee psychiatrist Victoria Fetter that he wanted to confess to his involvement in the boys' murders in 1958. (Fetter said Seitz told her the killings happened in 1959.)
Police findings

While investigating Seitz's death, police found the newspaper clippings and fliers, photographs of boys posing nude in a sexually suggestive manner and a painting of two small, nude boys being tortured by adults.

A handgun was recovered and the books on cannibalism also included a copy of one entitled, "Eat Thy Neighbor: A History of Cannibalism," according to a police inventory report.

Police jack-hammered the basement and also searched Seitz's business, Vern's Barber Shop, 4243 S. Packard Ave., where they found a poster of Jacob Wetterling, a Minnesota boy abducted in 1989.

Videotapes of Jacob were found at Seitz's residence.

The boy's mother, Patty Wetterling, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that Seitz came to visit her twice soon after the abduction. He claimed to be a psychic wanting to help and had even given her a painting of Jacob.

"He seemed to care, and he shared that he had his own personal reason to care," she said, noting that Seitz had had an abusive incident happen to him in the past, which she declined to speak of further.

"That's really not uncommon for people who came forward to talk to us. We heard that a lot," Wetterling said.

Wetterling stressed she did not want to jump to conclusions and noted that many people like Seitz had come to visit her after the abduction received national attention.

Accounts differ

Fetter's account of Seitz's claims differed slightly from the account in the police affidavit.

In an interview, Fetter said she treated Seitz for 11 years.

During that time, he told her of an incident in 1959 in which he was abducted while at a zoo in Racine with his family. Seitz said he had been abducted, put into a vehicle and blindfolded before being sodomized and beaten.

He also told her that he shot and killed a 14-year-old boy because his abductors threatened to kill him if he did not carry out the shooting and that he saw his abductors shoot and kill another boy.

Seitz told Fetter that his abductors released him the same day, and he told her that the entire incident lasted seven or eight hours.

Fetter said she "tended to" believe Seitz's story, "largely because he never contradicted himself. These things do happen. I mean, they're not unheard of. . . . He was always very consistent in his story, which sort of gave it credence."

Fetter said doctor-patient confidentiality rules prevented her from contacting authorities about Seitz's claims that he had killed the 14-year-old boy in Racine.

But in November, Seitz asked Fetter to contact Racine police and set up a meeting with them so he could confess to the shooting that he said he was forced to commit.

After Seitz's death, Milwaukee police contacted Racine police, but Racine police did not find any evidence that the killings or abductions that Seitz had described had taken place, Schwartz said.

Milwaukee police also interviewed some of Seitz's relatives, who said they knew nothing about the abduction and killings that Seitz had described.

Seitz had a fascination with missing children and young boys, Fetter said.

"He told me that although he liked little boys, he knew that you can't touch little boys, so what he did was paint them nude," Fetter said. "He didn't tell me about kiddie porn or anything. . . . If my patient lusts for boys but knows that he would get in boiling hot water if he did anything, then he can paint the pictures. That won't hurt anybody."

Seitz also claimed to be a psychic and traveled throughout the Midwest offering his services to the families of missing children, Fetter said.

Seitz was friendly - almost too polite, Fetter said - but she also said he "was no angel."

Fetter said she was appalled by the items that were found in Seitz's house.
House boarded

At Seitz's home Tuesday, many windows were boarded up. A hand-printed sign in faded ink on the front door stated, "You have just been photographed by an infrared camera. Photos go to police, since recent robbery invasion. Call first before coming here."

A neighbor who refused to identify herself said the windows were being boarded up because Seitz had planned to move to Racine. Neighbors said he owned the house and had lived there for a long time.

"He was nice enough, that's all I'm going to say," the woman said.

Near Vern's Barber Shop in St. Francis, Lynne Bartholomew, owner of Lynne's Scizzory, a hair salon next door, said she knew Seitz for nine years.

"He would come in and ask for a cup of coffee and tell me about his life, which was pretty scary, actually," Bartholomew said.

She said Seitz told her he was abducted from the Racine zoo as a boy by men who molested him and forced him to shoot and kill another boy.

Bartholomew said Seitz also claimed to have shot and killed a man who robbed him in his home three years ago and that he had killed two men in Chicago some years ago.

Bartholomew said Seitz had a particular interest in boys that made her and some of her customers "uncomfortable."

She also said he had a strong interest in Jacob Wetterling and had a laminated poster of Jacob in his barbershop.

The poster was seized by police after Seitz's death, she said.

Bartholomew said Seitz told her that he had seen a psychiatrist regularly since his alleged abduction, which, he told her, "ruined my life," she said.

Asked whether she believed that Seitz had committed any crimes, she said: "I don't know. I'm real torn. I knew this nice person who was very weird."

[Lori Davis]

http://www.jwrc.org/

Jacob Wetterling Resource Center

[Kelly]

On Tuesday October 13th, Oprah will interview the Law Enforcement Officers who rescued Jaycee Dugard. The show will also feature long-term missing children, such as Jacob Wetterling. 

[Lori Davis]

http://www.sctimes.c.../110180045/1009

'Jacob's Hope' still alive in their hearts
Family has channeled grief into efforts to help find other missing kids

By David Unze •  October 18, 2009

ST. JOSEPH — There’s only one road connecting the rest of the world to the quiet cul-de-sac Jerry and Patty Wetterling call home.

In an area that has seen surrounding land gobbled up by development, 91st Avenue Southeast cuts through farm fields as it approaches the Wetterling residence.

It still looks a lot like it did 20 years ago, the night 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted at the spot where a neighbor’s driveway meets that road.

And every time the Wetterlings leave their home, whether for days at a time or to get a gallon of milk, they pass the spot where the second-oldest of their four children disappeared.

“We call it The Site,” Jerry said. “Sometimes we say we’re going to take a walk to The Site. It’s kind of an eerie feeling.”

“I say a prayer every time I go past it,” Patty said.

What happened at that spot forever changed what it meant to them to be a parent, a spouse, a Wetterling. And 20 years later, the couple still seeks answers and strives to return the world to what it was for Jacob before he was taken during a bike ride home from the convenience store.

“You have to find a way to work through it, and my way of coping was to keep that front and center,” Patty said. “Working for the world that Jacob knew.”

“Jacob’s Hope” became a slogan for the extensive efforts to find Jacob and his abductor. Patty Wetterling took to the national stage to fight for laws that created sex offender registries and tougher penalties for offenders. She has crisscrossed the country to speak to police officers, politicians and talk show audiences. She ran for office, and they started a foundation to help find missing children.

She and Jerry still live in the house on Kiwi Court that they called home the night Jacob was abducted. They have opinions about who might have taken Jacob, but they are careful about discussing suspects.

They don’t discount a theory that Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner forwarded in recent years that shifted the focus of the investigation to local suspects.

The Wetterlings’ hope for Jacob’s return is bolstered by reports of other long-lost children who are reunited with family members.

And while hope remains, anniversaries bring a mixture of emotions.

“There’s a certain anxiety and uneasiness about October coming,” Jerry said. “The leaves are turning and it’s that time of year and the feelings kind of come back from at the time that it happened.”

“You don’t need to look at a calendar, you feel it in the air,” Patty said, “when the leaves start to turn and the kids are back in school.”

It’s a season that Patty calls “the shaking of the tree,” when annual publicity about Jacob’s abduction generates more leads in the case. The Wetterlings hope the lead they need surfaces or a person comes forward with a tip — or a confession.

“We’re dealing with this on a daily basis, but the world, the community, tends to remember again at the anniversary time,” Jerry said.

Just the other day, Patty was leaving a restaurant and was stopped by a woman who wanted only to tell her that the Wetterling family was in her prayers. The woman was surprised that 20 years had passed since Jacob was taken, Patty said.

They chatted for a few minutes. Patty remembers leaving the parking lot in tears.

“Everything makes me cry this time of the year,” she said.

But it’s that type of support, from friends, family and strangers, that keeps the Wetterlings going, they said.

“I do feel we owe the world an incredible amount of gratitude for the prayers and the support and the holding us up when we couldn’t do it on our own,” Patty said. “We could never repay people for that.”

“That part of it is just amazing,” Jerry said. “The support system has always been there and that gets reinforced.”

The Wetterlings’ family support system continues to grow. Almost 20 years after Jacob was taken, the family added a Jake, a grandson born to their son Trevor and his wife, Trish.

Patty recently finished a book, called “Jacob’s Hope,” that is intended to tell her grandchildren about their uncle Jacob and the special place in their hearts that is his hope.

It’s that hope that motivates her still, the same hope that forced her to get out of bed in the days after her son’s abduction.

“I remember at the beginning just curling up in a ball and saying, ‘I’m never going to get out of this bed,’ ” she said. “And I knew that I couldn’t. But I had this very strong visual of Jacob curled up in a ball somewhere saying the same thing: ‘I can’t do this anymore, they’re never going to find me.’ And just having this desperateness.

“And I began talking to him. ‘Hold on Jake. We’ll find you. We won’t quit.’ And I thought, ‘if I’m expecting him to stay strong, you better get out of bed.’ ”

[Jenn]

http://www.myfoxtwin...ars_oct_22_2009

Jacob Wetterling Missing for 20 Years
Wetterling family keeps hope, mission alive

Published : Thursday, 22 Oct 2009, 7:43 AM CDT

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - Thursday marks a major anniversary that forever changed Minnesota -- 20 years ago, somebody kidnapped Jacob Wetterling and he's never been found.

Jacob Wetterling's family and those who work for the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center will spend Thursday doing what they've done for the past two decades -- search for him and try to protect all children.

11-year-old Jacob, his brother and a friend were riding their bikes home from a convenience store in St. Joseph, Minn. when a man wearing a mask and carrying a gun took Jacob and drove off, never to be found again.

Local, state and federal agencies, along with thousands of volunteers, searched exhaustively for Jacob and have looked into more than 50,000 leads of the past 20 years.

Jacob's parents, Jerry and Patty Wetterling, have worked tirelessly not just to try to find Jacob, but to find other missing and exploited children and build safer communities.

FOX 9 News talked to Patty Wetterling just a few days ago before a concert to celebrate children near the family's St. Joseph home.

"There's times when it'll just hit you, it's very sad," Patty Wetterling told FOX 9 News, just a few days ago at a concert for children near the family's home. "Then, there are times when I go to bed at night I need to know I did everything I can today to try and find him. I have these little dialogues with Jacob, it's like, 'Hold on-- we're still trying.'"

[Jenn]

http://minnesota.pub.../19/wetterling/

Twenty years on, hope lives for Jacob Wetterling

by Elizabeth Dunbar, Minnesota Public Radio, Phil Picardi, Minnesota Public Radio, Ambar Espinoza, Minnesota Public Radio


In this Aug. 28, 2009 photo, Jerry Wetterling and wife Patty, right, show a photo of their son Jacob Wetterling, who was abducted in October of 1989 in St. Joseph, Minn., and is still missing, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Craig Lassig)


St. Paul, Minn. — It's been 20 years since 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling, his younger brother and a friend set off on their bikes to rent a movie in St. Joseph one night.

As they rode back home in the dark, a masked man with a gun stopped them and told them to get off their bikes and lie face down in a ditch. After telling the man how old they were, 10-year-old Trevor Wetterling and 11-year-old Aaron Larson were told to run away.

Then the man took Jacob, who hasn't been seen since.

Thursday's anniversary, like past anniversaries, will likely come and go for Jerry and Patty Wetterling without them finding out what happened to their son. The Wetterlings and their three other children have learned to survive and cope through the years while never losing sight of the possibility that Jacob could turn up alive.

"That's the grandest hope, and it's certainly there," Jerry Wetterling said this week.

The Wetterlings find hope in recent cases in which kidnapped children were miraculously found alive years later. They also know that anniversaries also often trigger new leads as law enforcement officials and the public hear about the case again through news media reports.

"It just seems to trigger more calls and people kind of researching their memory," Wetterling said.

"Each time it's emotional because you're hoping for the one. And you're waiting and yet it's hard to get too into that particular lead because repeated, repeated disappointments of it not being the one can dampen your spirits," he said. "You learn not to get too swept up into one particular lead."

Despite the regular leads the Stearns County Sheriff's Department still gets each week, little has changed in the Jacob Wetterling case. What has changed is how law enforcement officials handle missing children cases and track those who might kidnap or otherwise harm children.

States have established and toughened sex offender registries, and the national AMBER alert system was put into place to broadcast urgent bulletins when a child is abducted.

"The changes are dramatic," said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "More missing children come home safely today than ever in American history."

Allen said AMBER alerts, sex offender laws and eliminating mandatory waiting periods for law enforcement to search for a missing child have all helped keep more children safe. So has increased awareness among parents, he said.

But there's still room for improvement, he said, adding that sex offender registries must come with enforcement and consequences for those who violate the terms of their release.

"Our view is that at a minimum, we need to know where these offenders are," Allen said. "Two thirds of these offenders are not in jails or prisons, they're in our communities."

The Wetterlings and Aaron Larson learned the hard way that a boy from a small town in Minnesota could be taken away so quickly. On the other hand, such incidents remain few and far between: Only in about 100 cases a year are children abducted and never seen alive again.

"This whole situation with witnesses there at night in the dark and with a gun and mask and all that -- that's very rare...kind of haunting," Jerry Wetterling said.

The incident left Jacob's best friend, Aaron Larson, troubled. He became scared of the dark, didn't sleep well and worried the masked man would return.

"You would lay in bed and think about these things," Larson told the St. Cloud Times.

Through the years, Larson has also thought about how things could have been different.

"That's hard for me sometimes," he told the newspaper. "Why am I still here and he's not?"

Since the abduction, Patty Wetterling and her family have put their efforts into pushing for legislation to help keep children safe. The federal law requiring states to maintain sex offender registries has been in place since 1994 and is named after Jacob. Patty now directs a program on sexual violence prevention for the Minnesota Department of Health.

"The interest, the response, and I really believe the essence of Jacob himself and how he has captured the hearts of so many people ... it's kind of spurred us on to really try to make this better," Jerry Wetterling said.

[Jenn]

http://wcco.com/loca....2.1376671.html

Dec 17, 2009 5:44 pm US/Central

Vets March For Jacob Wetterling One Last Time

It was Oct. 22, 1989 when the story of the 11-year-old's disappearance filled parents throughout the region with a chilling fear.

In the living room of his Anoka home, Vietnam Veteran Mike Clark recalls his anger over the abduction of Jacob Wetterling.

It was Oct. 22, 1989 when the story of the 11-year-old's disappearance filled parents throughout the region with a chilling fear.

"All you have to do is think if that had happened to your son, it would be really tough," Clark explained.

At the time, Mike and his wife had a son the same age as Jacob. They'd also grown up in the St. Joseph area and could relate to the rural setting where the Wetterlings lived.

That's when Clark decided he had to do something to combat the helplessness and outrage he was feeling. So Mike convinced his local Anoka chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America to make a 60 mile march from Anoka, Minn. to St. Joseph, Minn.

The three-day walk would take place just before Christmas with the hope of raising awareness and possibly some leads in the case, but as the months turned into years and Jacob's case remained unsolved, the annual walk would become emblematic of the plight of all missing and abducted children.

"This walk will be finished for sure, but it may not be with the vigor of past walks," Clark points out.

He said that time has taken a toll on the marchers. Some have passed away, others are physically ailing, but all of them are now 20 years older.

Over the course of two decades, they've marched in all kinds of weather; from snow and rain to ice and biting cold. Despite the harsh realities of December weather, Clark said, nothing prevented them from undertaking the march. However, what brutal weather couldn't stop, advancing age will.

On the morning of Friday, Dec. 18, they will begin the trek one last time. With flags flying and their bodies aching, the vets will march along the shoulder of U.S. Highway 10, from Anoka to Elk River, Big Lake, Becker, St. Cloud and finally St. Joseph.

Among the veterans physically unable to withstand the vigor of the 60-mile march is Sam Hermanstorfer. This year, his job will be driving an escort van.

"I've had to have back surgery ... and my legs just won't carry it anymore," Hermanstorfer said with sadness.

Yet, Clark and his colleagues said they're not giving up on the march. Rather, simply giving in to the realities of advancing health.

For three days in December the one time young, brave and vigorous vets whose hearts were broken, at the loss of an innocent child will be spotted along the road where they will leave a lasting impression on anyone who passes by.

"I think we've made a difference, people say we have, and we have to go for that," Clark said.

The group plans to begin the walk Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. where they will depart from the Anoka County Historical Society in downtown Anoka.

[Jenn]

http://wcco.com/loca....2.1383096.html

Dec 21, 2009 10:24 am US/Central

Vets Finish Final Walk For Jacob Wetterling

A group of Vietnam veterans say they have made their last three-day walk from Anoka to the St. Joseph home of Jerry and Patty Wetterling.

They started the 60-mile walk when the couple's son Jacob Wetterling went missing 20 years ago.

Patty Wetterling was waiting for the 20 walkers Sunday at the spot where Jacob was last seen 20 years ago in October. Jerry Wetterling was with them.

The veterans were hoping to raise awareness and keep cases like Jacob's in the public eye.

Organizer Mike Clark said their walk five years ago was going to be their last, but their thoughts changed with the 20th anniversary of Jacob's disappearance. But the men, who are now in their 60s, say the grueling three-day march is just too much.

-------

"I think we've made a difference, people say we have, and we have to go for that," Clark said.

[Lori Davis]

http://abcnewspapers...10314&Itemid=26

Vietnam vets walk in honor of missing children     
Tuesday, 22 December 2009 
by Eric Hagen
Staff writer

When Mike Clark saw the news about 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling being abducted 20 years ago, his thoughts turned to his own 11-year-old boy.

“What if this happened to my son?” he thought.

Clark did not personally know Jerry and Patty Wetterling. He only knew them as well as the millions of other people who heard their story in the news.

However, Clark did more than feel sorry for the Wetterlings. He and a group of his friends literally took the extra step to keep Jacob’s story in the news.

In late December every five years starting 20 years ago, Clark and a group of fellow Vietnam veterans have walked as much of the approximately 60 miles as they are able to from Anoka to the doorsteps of the Wetterling home in St. Joseph.

The members of the Anoka County Chapter 470 of the Minnesota Vietnam Veterans of America walk to recognize all missing children.

“They’re our future,” Doug Johnson said. “We have to watch out for them.”

Dec. 18, several people took the first steps from the Anoka County History Center. Others, including Jerry Wetterling, joined them on the route. They walked by daylight, driving home to sleep, until they reached St. Cloud and St. Joseph Sunday.

Unlike walks for other causes, there are not hundreds or thousands of people lining the route, cheering their support. It would be hard to do so along Highway 10, of course, and the frigid weather probably does not draw out supporters.

Instead, they hear honking in support of their cause.

From previous walks, Johnson recalled when a woman gave them cookies and cider. She had spotted them when she was driving on her way home to Elk River and wanted to offer support. Convenience stores in which they have stopped have given them free coffee. Tim Kirk said somebody even made them lunch after hearing about what they were doing from news reports.

Kirk said one year, one of the guys lost nine toenails after the walk and his toes were black and blue.

“Who walks in December? Only crazy people,” Clark said.

Multiple layers are a must for this walk, but Kirk, who has participated in every walk, said you do not want to overdress because sweat will cool you down.

The vets learned that comfortable walking shoes are the best footwear for a long walk even in the winter trudging through snow because constantly lifting heavy boots will make a person tired.

Roger Bobby does not know if he would call this weather extreme, but said the timing could raise more awareness of the cause.

“The extreme nature demonstrates to people how important and serious it is to keep this issue alive,” Bobby said.

Clark said he hates to use the word aging, but it is happening to the Vietnam veterans, so this was their last walk from Anoka to St. Joseph.

But Clark said they may walk five miles from the Coon Rapids VFW to the Anoka County History Center at some point in the future in honor of missing children.

Johnson previously lived in Minnesota, but his residency is now in Arizona. He flew up a few days before the walk because Clark told him this would probably be the last time the Vietnam veterans do this winter walk.

“It’s going to be our last hurrah, so I wanted to be here,” Johnson said.

One last time

Light snow Saturday night made it slippery on the last leg of the journey Sunday, which was difficult on Clark’s back and hip, but at least the wind died down and the sun was shining with temperatures in the mid-20s.

The group met at a Burger King restaurant on the east side of St. Cloud Sunday morning to begin the last leg of the trek. They traveled west on Highway 23 and Stearns County Road 75. The group left the busy roadway and walked past the former convenience store where Jacob and his two friends stopped to pick up a movie the night he was abducted.

The walkers then headed down a snow-covered stretch of road flanked by cornfields to the roadside site where Jacob was abducted a little over 20 years ago.

Patty Wetterling was waiting at the abduction site. Her husband was already with the walkers. Not much has changed at the site besides the addition of an electrical utility box. A wooden box with a ceremonial candle honoring Jacob was stolen, she said.

As Clark walked up to Patty Wetterling, she gave him a big hug. There were tears and hugs all around and plenty of aches and pains.

The group held a short ceremony and prayer service at the abduction site. Three ceremonial shots were fired with a M-14 rifle donated to the Anoka County Vietnam veterans group by Mike Strand before he died of cancer in 2004. Strand was one of the original walkers 20 years ago.

Three rifle shots signify the signal of distress while searching for somebody who is lost, Clark said.

After the ceremony concluded, the group continued down the road to the Wetterling home where Patty Wetterling prepared soup and sandwiches for the exhausted walkers.

Before the veterans left, Jerry Wetterling presented each of them with a ceremonial candle.

“Thank you for all the light you have brought into our lives during our search for Jacob and the awareness you carried for all searching families,” he said to the veterans. “You have brightened the darkness and your steadfastness and 20-year commitment will warm our hearts forever.”

[Kelly]

http://www.sctimes.c...-abduction-site

Investigators converge near Wetterling abduction site

By Kari Petrie and David Unze •  June 30, 2010


ST. JOSEPH — Several vehicles and Stearns County squad cars are at a property near the site where Jacob Wetterling was abducted in 1989, and Sheriff John Sanner said a court order prohibits him from saying why they’re there.

Neighbors reported seeing a line of several unmarked law enforcement vehicles as early at 8:15 a.m. today at the property, 29748-91st Ave. in St. Joseph.

The property is owned by Robert and Rita Rassier.

Neighbors also reported seeing vehicles pulling closed trailers along the driveway and vehicles pulling all-terrain vehicles. Aerial photographs taken by the St. Cloud Times this morning show as many as 17 vehicles, all-terrain vehicles and trailers on the property.

Photos also show people moving into and around as many as five outbuildings at the residence.

A Stearns County Sheriff’s Office squad car has been parked at the entry to the driveway nearly all day, as marked and unmarked vehicles enter and exit the property.

Wetterling was 11 years old when he was abducted Oct. 22, 1989, near the entry to the driveway, just yards from where the Stearns squad has been parked today.

For the first 14 years of the investigation, authorities had focused on a vehicle that a witness reported seeing near the abduction site. The driver came forward in 2003 and was ruled out as a suspect.

Authorities decided it was likely that the abductor hadn’t used a vehicle.

They then changed their theory of the abduction to focus on the likelihood that the abductor was someone local.

Robert Rassier told the Times in a phone conversation today that investigators were at his residence but that he didn’t want to discuss the situation further.

Sanner said the Stearns County Attorney’s Office had advised him that a court order prevented him from saying why his investigators were at the residence. He declined to describe the court order. The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension referred all calls to Sanner.

“Because of the court order, I’m not going to answer” whether the activity was related to the disappearance of Wetterling, a crime that has gripped Central Minnesota for nearly 21 years.

“I do understand that the public is interested in what’s going on,” Sanner said. “I don’t want to do anything at this point to compromise any potential prosecution.”

There have been no arrests today in connection to the activity at the residence, he said. He didn’t know how long investigators were going to be at the Rassier property, he said.

Patty Wetterling said today that she wasn’t aware of any searches that were planned at the Rassier residence related to her son’s disappearance.

She was happy that investigators have continued to go back through the entire case and that they have gone “back to the beginning.”

“Jacob’s last footsteps are shown on that driveway,” she said today.

[Denise Harrison]

http://abcnews.go.co...ory?id=11058667

Jacob Wetterling: A Break in 20-Year-Old Missing Boy Case?

Wetterling Was 11 When Abducted at Gunpoint 20 Years Ago

By BRIAN BRAIKER
June 30, 2010



Investigators combed over a St. Joseph, Minnesota, property today near where 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted in 1989.

Includes video: A mother, whose child was abducted 20 years ago, speaks out.

Neighbors reported seeing several unmarked law enforcement vehicles there earlier today, and video footage shot by a ABC News St. Paul affiliate KSTP-TV showed as many as 17 vehicles, all-terrain vehicles and trailers on the grounds.

Officials from the Stearns County Sheriff's Office told KSTP-TV and other local media that no details about the operation could be released because of a court order.

FBI spokesman E.K. Wilson told The Associated Press that the FBI is assisting in search warrant operations in the area.

Investigators seemed to be focusing on what appeared to be furniture and barrels taken from a building on the property, the station reported.