Patty Wetterling's book is now out in paperback, and with it renewed interest in her story.
"Dear Jacob: A Mother's Journey of Hope" hit the bookstores in October of 2023, and since then, Patty Wetterling has experienced a number of poignant moments with people in line to get their books signed.
"Some of them share stories of their own loss through accidents, cancer, suicide, and how, you know, collectively when you share your story, you're no longer alone," Wetterling explains.
Speaking to WCCO's Chad Hartman, Wetterling says the book details the early days when son Jacob went missing, including some of her darkest days.
"I couldn't get out of bed. I would, people don't know that side of me because Jerry did a lot of the talking at the beginning," Wetterling said, noting her husband carried a lot of the load early, something Wetterling eventually overcame and she ended up dedicating her life to helping protect children.
Wetterling also talks about how the world has changed since Jacob was kidnapped from his St. Joseph, Minnesota hometown and murdered on October 22, 1989, at the age of 11.
After Jacob was kidnapped and killed by Danny Heinrich, she says parents changed the way they looked after their children. The identity of Jacob's abductor remained a mystery for nearly 27 years. Heinrich decided to cooperate with authorities as part of a plea bargain related to another missing child. On September 1, 2016, he led investigators to a burial site where Jacob's clothing and human remains were unearthed in a pasture near Paynesville, about 30 miles away from the Wetterling home.
Wetterling says 35 years after she lost her son, it's hard to blame parents for how involved they are in the lives of their children.
"A lot of people faulted, they call them helicopter parents, and it's like, I hate that term," Wetterling said. "It's like, parents became more involved in their children's lives, and that's huge for their development and growth and becoming successful adults."
Over the last three decades, Wetterling's lobbying work took her to Washington, DC, where in 1994 Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Act, establishing a national sex offender registry.