It was a pitch-black, moonless night in rural Minnesota in October of 1989 when 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling, his younger brother Trevor and best friend Aaron Larson were pedaling their bikes from a local video rental store with a bag of candy and a VHS tape of The Naked Gun. The boys were almost home when a man wearing a mask and brandishing a revolver stepped out of the darkness and ordered the three of them into a ditch. After asking their ages, the stranger told Aaron and Trevor to run to a nearby tree line and not look back or else he would shoot them. By the time the boys arrived home and police were called, Jacob and the stranger had vanished. "From that day on," says Jacob's mom, Patty Wetterling, "I just held on to hope."
For nearly three decades Patty remained steadfastly convinced that her son would reappear one day, and that her family would put their nightmare behind them. "I had dreams about him coming home. How we would heal and all the things we would do," she recalls.
But that never happened. Instead the now-74year-old mother of four turned her agony into action, becoming a passionate advocate for missing children. She crisscrossed the country speaking to parents and investigators about child abduction and exploitation, and in 1994 her lobbying efforts paid off when the U.S. Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Act, creating a national sexoffender registry to help law enforcement more easily track predators across the country.
This story is from the October 30, 2023 edition of People US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 30, 2023 edition of People US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MAKING MEMORIES AND A MOVIE
LISA RINNA & DAUGHTER DELILAH HAMLIN - THE 25-YEAROLD JOINS THE FAMILY BUSINESS ACTING!-AS SHE TEAMS UP WITH MOM FOR A LIFETIME FILM
WHAT I KNOW NOW
NO LONGER CRYING 'MORE, MORE, MORE' IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR, THE '80S SUPERSTAR SURVIVED HIS DRUGFUELED HEYDAY AND IS ROCKING HIS ROLE AS DAD AND GRANDPA
My Mom Mama Cass
FIVE DECADES AFTER THE DEATH OF THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS SINGER, OWEN ELLIOT-KUGELL'S MEMOIR GIVES AN INTIMATE LOOK AT THE MUSICAL LEGEND
Their Moody, New Orleans Wedding!
THE ACTRESS AND HER CAMERA OPERATOR GROOM SAY I DO' IN THE BIG EASY
SEINFELD'S SWEET SIDE
THE COMEDY ICON SHARES HIS FUNNY PERSPECTIVE ON MARRIAGE, FATHERHOOD AND TURNING 70-PLUS WHY HE MADE A PROUDLY SILLY MOVIE ABOUT POP-TARTS
A FORMER ADDICT HELPS TO PREVENT LETHAL OVERDOSES - Saving Lives
MEET THE COUPLE WHO GIVE OUT EMERGENCY MEDICATION AT MUSIC FESTIVALS TO STOP DEATHS FROM OPIOIDS
'I'M GLAD I GOT HERE'
IN A NEW MEMOIR, WHOOPI GOLDBERG OPENS UP ABOUT HER MOTHER'S MENTAL ILLNESS AND WHAT IT TAUGHT HER
In Mallory's Honor
She lost her daughter in a boat crash caused by Paul Murdaugh. Now Renee Beach is working to fulfill her child's mission in life
RYAN & HIS FALL GUYS
RYAN GOSLING AND HIS TEAM OF DARING STUNTMEN PAY HOMAGE TO HOLLYWOOD'S REAL ACTION HEROES-AND REVEAL THE SCENES THAT SCARED THEM THE MOST
HARVEY WEINSTEIN - WHAT'S NEXT AFTER A SHOCKING COURT DECISION?
AS A NEW YORK COURT OVERTURNS THE MOVIE MOGUL'S RAPE CONVICTION, WOMEN WHO CAME FORWARD SHARE THEIR OUTRAGE AND ANGUISH