Wetterling and her husband, Jerry, their three other children, and three grandchildren were gathering at their rural St. Joseph, Minn., home in the lead-up to the anniversary. The family considered the milestone a chance to honor Jacob.
Jacob Erwin Wetterling was a boy from St. Joseph, Minnesota who was kidnapped from his hometown at the age of 11 on October 22, 1989. His fate remains unknown.

“All I can tell you is we’re conducting an investigation in the St. Joseph’s area, and the details of that investigation are restricted by a court order,” Bechtold said. He is a Chief Deputy of the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department he also said he was restricted by court order from commenting on the investigation. The order, he said, was issued by a Stearns County judge on Tuesday or today.

ABC News first made contact with Wetterling 10 years ago.

"This is God's country," she said at the time, walking in a cornfield just a half-mile from her house.

It was through the same fields, on a warm autumn night, that Jacob, his brother Trevor and a friend set out on their bikes to pick up a video.

It was the first time Jacob had been out alone at night on his bike.

On the return home, according to the other boys, a masked gunman stopped all three -- and then drove off with Jacob.

On a gravel road was a spot where Jacob's footprints seemed to show resistance. And then...

"It's gone," Wetterling said. "It's just bizarre."

It was just the beginning of a nightmare from which Wetterling has not yet awoken. But something inside her has awoken.

Over the years, Wetterling has found her voice, and her mission: to find Jacob and help protect other children.




Tags: jacob wetterling,