Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope

With stunning detail, Patty Wetterling shares the untold story of the 27-year search for her son Jacob—and its astonishing conclusion. On October 22, 1989, in the small town of St. Joseph, Minnesota, eleven-year-old Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped at gunpoint. Twenty-seven years later, on September 2, 2016, Danny Heinrich led authorities to the boy’s remains. What lies between is the riveting story of the search for Jacob Wetterling, told by his mother, Patty. With down-to-earth candor, she details the investigation as it unfolds, discusses her family’s struggles, and shows how she maintained her energy and optimism. For her own survival, Patty chose to focus on hope. She became a speaker, trainer, and national advocate for missing children. Her lobbying work took her to Washington, DC, where in 1994 Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Act, establishing a national sex offender registry. In 2013 the Wetterlings were joined on their quest for answers by two unlikely allies: local blogger Joy Baker and plumber Jared Scheierl. Baker convinced Scheierl to come forward and share his story about being kidnapped from a nearby town and sexually assaulted the same year as Jacob. Together, Baker and Scheierl uncovered a string of similar assaults that had never been fully investigated. The combined efforts of this foursome led to the breakthrough that solved the case. Jacob’s kidnapping forever changed the way parents raised their children. Dear Jacob offers not only a behind-the-scenes account of one of America’s most notorious crimes but also a historical account of what has been done in the years since Jacob’s kidnapping to combat the problem of missing and exploited children. In this powerful memoir—written with Joy Baker, the local blogger—Patty Wetterling finally tells readers what happened and shows how, in searching for Jacob, she found her purpose.