If They Can Find Jaycee, We Can Find Jacob.

I don't know about you, but I have been entranced by the story of Jaycee Lee Dugard, kidnapped from North Lake Tahoe in 1991 at the age of 11. 18 years later, she has been found alive and well in Northern California. I love happy endings like this.

Stories like this always make me think of Jacob Wetterling, who was kidnapped at gunpoint from St. Joseph, MN in October 1989 - also at the age of 11. I vividly remember when this happened. I was 13 years old, and this story was huge news for a very long time. St. Joe is a small town, and things like this - a seemingly random gunpoint kidnapping of a child - just doesn't happen in a place like St. Joe. Jacob was with his younger brother and another friend, on his way home from the store. The kidnapper took Jacob and let his brother and the friend go. Nearly twenty years have passed without sign of Jacob, dead or alive.



Jacob's kidnapping also changed Halloween for us Minnesota kids forever. Suddenly you saw many more parents accompanying their kids out trick-or-treating. Kids learned to only approach houses where the front light was on. Everyone was pretty fearful that first Halloween after Jacob's disappearance, and not much has changed in 20 years, as the media has made access to information about kidnapped children a lot easier to come by.

Jacob would be 31 years old now. His parents, Patty and Jerry, still live in the same house and have the same phone number. I can't even imagine what Jacob's poor parents have endured -- Patty Wetterling has channeled her grief and energy into advocating for children's safety. She is an amazingly strong woman, and I hope she sees her son again.

Now, since Jaycee has been found, I think again about poor Jacob. Is he stashed away in some deranged psychopath's barn, basement, or backyard? What has he had to endure? Has he been tortured, sexually abused, brainwashed? Is he walking around out there in plain sight, not remembering who he really is? Is he dead, his body so well-hidden that nobody will ever find it? Jaycee's story inspires hope that Jacob may also be alive and well out there somewhere. If they can find Jaycee, we should damn well be able to find Jacob. Really, all it takes is one person to notice and report something suspicious. Minnesotans, keep your eyes and ears open!