It's one of Minnesota's most heart wrenching and famous missing child cases. And Friday, the Jacob Wetterling story will be featured in a two-hour special on ABC's 20/20.
It's in conjunction with Jacob's mother Patty Wetterling's new memoir being released next week. In it, she documents the ups and downs, perseverance, heartbreak, and ultimate acceptance when Jacob's abductor led authorities to his remains 27 years later.
"I guess it's kind of a thank you, for everybody who lived this journey with us," Wetterling tells WCCO's Laura Oakes. "It's kind of like what kept me going, how did I survive. Other people are going to stuff too. And possibly could help somebody else, with whatever they're going through."
Danny Heinrich kidnapped 11-year old Jacob at gunpoint on October 22, 1989. Patty says her advice to any other parents going through an unthinkable loss involving a child is to never, ever give up hope.
"It's always scary to do national media because you don't know the 300 hours of tape that they've got, what parts will be selected to put on," Wetterling says about the TV special. "They spent a lot of time talking to people in the community, law enforcement, Jerry and I."
Jacob Wetterling was from St. Joseph, Minnesota. He was kidnapped from his hometown and murdered on October 22, 1989, at the age of 11. His abduction remained a mystery for nearly 27 years.
On September 1, 2016, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) recovered human bones from a pasture near Paynesville, about 30 miles from the original site of the abduction.
Wetterling's family announced that the bones were those of Jacob, and local law enforcement stated that the identity of the bones had been confirmed by dental records.
The location was revealed by Danny Heinrich, a long-time person of interest in the abduction of another boy, 12-year-old Jared Scheierl. Later that week, Heinrich confessed to kidnapping and murdering Wetterling, as well as abducting and sexually assaulting Scheierl.
Wetterling's book, ‘Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope’, will be released on Oct. 17. You can pre-order the book here.