20/20 - True Crime Vault: Snatched

Episode Date: August 25, 2026

When a boy is kidnapped riding a bike, parents, police and a blogger work to bring him home. (OAD 10/13/23) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.ca. Welcome to the True Crime Vault, home to 2020's most chilling stories. Tonight, three boys go out, only two come home.

My exclusive interview with the family. 2020 starts right now. Today, October 12, I'm five feet tall. My home name is Jacob Irvin-Wiland. It's a case that just captures the imagination of everyone because they can. can all imagine, that could have been my kid. They were frantic, kind of screaming, Rochelle, Rochelle, someone took Jacob.

There's a man with a gun and he's got Jacob. You're worried about him getting hit by a car and he gets snatched by somebody? Who would take a child? That's all I can. Who would do this? Jacob's all alone. This is not weird.

It's just run. You're all riding your bike and your scooter from this way. And you get to this area, what happens? All of a sudden, a man came out from this area over here. We saw some adult-sized footprints and smaller ones, like child-sized footprints. That looked like somebody was pulling this kid along.

That search was massive. In my mind, the man that took Jacob was always lurking around the corner and certainly could strike again. Were you thinking that there's a serial kidnapper on the loose. On this country road, an 11-year-old boy riding his bike is abducted just a half mile away from his home. The kidnapping of Jacob Wetterling would become one of the biggest mysteries in Minnesota history, with an investigation that would last close to 30 years.

And during that time, a mother's unwavering hope would fuel the search to find Jacob and bring him home. Growing up in St. Joseph, Minnesota was like growing up in classic small small town America. Nobody locked their doors at night. Kids were able to run and play. St. Joseph, Minnesota is known as St. Joe. You have a lot of the lakes that people enjoy. It's a rural community.

So there's lots of farmers and farm businesses in the area. Jerry was a chiropractor. He liked the feel of the small town, especially when you're building a practice. What was life like for you at that time? when you think back to the 80s. It was kind of nuts. Kids were in different sports, dance.

It was just a really wild time. You can think four kids, it was pretty busy. Yeah, it looks like it. But they were fun. Look at those smiles. Like stair steps too, with their ages. In 1989, Amy was 13. Jacob was 11, Trevor was 10, and Carmen was 8 years old.

eight years old. We bought this house in the woods. It just felt very peaceful here. I grew up right next door to the Wetterlings. All of the siblings in the Wetterling family had a very close relationship. I was a stay-at-home mom. We just played. It was fun. Trevor, you gotta get down low, so it'll... Okay, wait, we gotta go down. I think the favorite video is when the is when Jacob portrayed me reading the newspaper.

And then Trevor comes back up again and says, Dad, I forgot to tape the game. And Jacob goes, what? You forgot to tape the game? It was pretty funny. This is Jacob. He looks so much like you. Yeah. Wow.

He's cutie. And what does this say about him? He loved playing hockey and one year he decided to be goalie. But he was really good. He had a really good balance if he stopped it. It was a great save if it went in. That's a great shot. What made him special to you?

He just had a really good spirit. Sweet, innocent, very real. A light, a light upper room. I am Aaron Larson. Jacob Wirling was my best friend. was my best friend. They were kind of the family that was willing to try anything. It looked like you had it just really kind of all laid out very nicely.

We did. We were happy. Everybody was busy. Well, you can see busy in this calendar. And this is 1989. 1889. This is January. I mean, every month.

This one is jammed. Yeah, well, this was school, back to school. So you've got everything going on. And then this is October. Now this is the month that you'll never forget. October 1989. October 22nd, pretty much everything stops. It goes to nothing.

It just stopped. October 22nd, 1989 is a very vivid date in my memory. It was a Sunday. We didn't have school the next day for some reason. Jacob and I went fishing at a nearby lake. He had been practicing for a hockey tryout and he was just crazily having trouble staying on his skates. It was just really bugging him.

So I suggested we go fishing. We had a really nice time fishing and came back around noontime. We all met in here to watch the Vikings game. That particular night we were invited to a dinner party. You were going out to dinner with friends, and the kids were going to stay here. And we asked Jacob if he minded babysitting. Amy was staying at a friend's house.

We were just going to be gone a little bit, and he was in sixth grade. He said, sure, no problem, can Aaron come over? I remember being super excited because when we actually get to hang out and we don't have school the next day. We left, we got to our friend's house, called home to give them the number.

This is pre-cell phone, you have to remember. Of course. They asked if they could ride their bikes to the store and rent a video. I initially said no, it was starting to get dark. Being little boys, you kind of come up with, not take no for that first answer. They've ridden to the store a million times, but not at night. Where we lived in a kind of a little cul-de-sac wooded area, to the town is a straight road, but cars can go fairly fast on that road.

I was just concerned that they would be visible. would be visible. Trevor said, well, let me talk to dad. He had it all figured out. He said that Jacob was wearing my reflective running vest. Aaron had a white sweatshirt on, and Trevor was carrying the flashlight. They had everything taken care of.

So OK, go, and then come right home. But then they called a third time. These are responsible children. And they said, Carmen doesn't want to go with. Is it OK if Rochelle comes over to babysit? So then I went over to babysit. So then I went over to. to the Wetterling House.

As a parent, we were in direct contact with them, and everything felt fine. Like you've done everything right that you could possibly do. Right. It's a five minute, 10 minute max bike ride. It's not far. It's a mile. We left probably close to around 8.30.

I was actually on the scooter, and then they were on their bikes. We weren't in a big hurry. We were just kind of cruising down the road. And then we went into Tom Thumb, the convenience store, we got the naked gun than movie. And I remember also getting blow pops, just some suckers. And then we just headed back the same way we came down. They were just like getting really close within a half mile of their house.

And all of a sudden, this guy stepped out of the shadows and said, stop, I have a gun. A guy wearing a mask took your son. What would take a child? It was inconceivable. That evening, the weather. The weather was perfect. We just headed back the same way we came down.

It was very dark. It was one of those nights where the moon wasn't out and there's no stars and you couldn't see anything unless it was in our little circle of light from our little flashlights. A man came out from the left-hand side. There's a little gravel driveway that leads back to a farm. And it's one of those kind of ingrained

where it comes out and he says, stop and turn off your flashlights and I have a gun. And I still remember my first reaction was, I think I let out a laugh almost because I thought this must be a joke. And it became real pretty quick. It seemed like they weren't gone very long at all. When all of the sudden, Trevor rushed into the house,

followed pretty closely by Aaron. And they were frantic, kind of screaming, Rochelle, Rochelle, someone took Jacob, there's a man, with a gun and he's got Jacob. To have a man jump out and abduct an 11-year-old boy. It was inconceivable. I ended

up calling my dad. He just came right over. You both are having your dinner. Then you get a phone call that I suspect you'll never forget. So he answered the phone and it was Rochelle's dad. He asked for me and says

the boys went to the Tom Thumb and And a guy wearing a mask took Jacob. A guy wearing a mask took your son. You're worried about him getting hit by a car and he gets snatched by somebody? What are you thinking? I'm not thinking. No.

He changed. Jerry came back to the table and grabbed my arm and said, we got to go. And I said, you know, what happened? Aren't those boys back yet? And he said, two of them are somebody took Jacob. It's like, what? It was unimaginable. I grabbed my purse and we left. 911 emergencies.

Jerry Wedderling family. And some of their boys went down to Tom Sums to pick up a movie and on their way back. Someone stopped them and we believe that they have one of the boys. Okay, were they picked up in a vehicle? Just a second, I'll ask the boys. Was there a vehicle there? Or was he walking? They couldn't, they didn't see a vehicle.

Okay. Did they see the individual at all? Yes, they did. Did you see the individual at all? He had a mask on. He had like a nylon stocking over his face where he couldn't see, you know, any of the eyes or any of his features. Maybe that's why the voice stands out to me more. It was a very gruff, gravely voice.

How old is the individual that had? not returned. How old is Jacob? 11. Okay. Jacob is Jacob, right? Yeah, Jacob Wetterling. The other dispatch right now is dispatching the squad to where you're at right now, okay?

I'm Bruce Bechtelan. I was the first officer on the scene. I was a brand new deputy at the time. I get a call from dispatch that it sounded like a boy had been abducted. And in my mind, that can't be true, but I activated him. But I activated my lights and siren and drove pretty quickly this way. It must have been the longest ride of your life. It was. Who would take a child?

Who would do this? It was about a 20-minute drive or so trying to figure it out. We had no idea what we were walking into. It's one of those things that you just can't even fathom could actually happen in small town, Minnesota. I have to drive past the abduction site to get to. to the Wettering home. And it's in this location where we're standing now. You're all riding your bike and your scooter from this way.

And you get to this area, what happens? All of the sudden, a man came out from this area over here. He said, stop. I have a gun and told us to turn off our flashlights. It's basically where all your fears and everything gets real, very fast. He ordered them to put their bikes down in the ditch and then to lay down, face down, each one of them.

And this is the same. spot, Aaron, as far as you know? Yeah, like right in here. So we were laying with our heads facing that way, like on our stomachs. And then he told us to look at him and asked us how old we were. And so at the time, Trevor was 10 and myself and Jacob were both 11.

And then he started with Trevor at first, and he told him to run as fast as he could into the woods. And then he told me to get up and run as fast as I can, and don't look back, or else I would. shoot. Trevor and Aaron ran off to the woods back here and then they ran from the corner of the woods here diagonally across the fields where a gap in the trees is that's where the wetterling house in the neighborhood is. When Aaron finally caught up to Trevor and they were brave enough to look back they just didn't see Jacob he was

gone. Nobody was there then it was a matter of how fast can we get to to somebody to help us because we had no idea what's going on and where's Jacob. You make your way back home and you hear from the other boys. Trevor said this man, there was a man with a gun and he told us to get off our bikes and lie down in the ditcher, he'd shoot. Do you have any recollection of what was going through your mind that night? Fear? Just frantic fear, I guess I would say it. The detectives were asking for

all kinds of personal. They might have taken Trevor's hockey jacket because they both played for the same league. This was his hockey jacket. And he was wearing this? He was wearing this when he was kidnapped. Then they asked for a, you know, picture of Jacob. Is this the photo that you gave? This was a, the yellow sweater photo. It was this was heartbreaking. You take it down.

But it was so hard because I had, you know, three of the kids' school pictures on the wall. and then there's this blank frame. It was just one of those heart-wrenching moments. That first night was just a lot of chaos. You know, the sheriff was concerned that maybe he's tied to a tree or something and he can't break free. We're going to find him. Law enforcement are searching and searching the abduction site. Then key pieces of evidence and a witness emerge.

A car turns around in the evening. really fast, and it takes off. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family

to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at PMCA. Your playlist might get you through the workday, but have you ever wondered how your ancestors spent theirs? What work helped them build a life? How did they adapt as the world around them changed? With Ancestry, you can search Select Historical Occupational Records for free for a limited time and discover the stories behind the jobs in your family tree. You've got questions. We've got

ancestors. Search free until August 31st. Visit Ancestry.ca.com for details. Terms apply. Over 12, I'm five feet tall. My whole name is Jacob Urban Weatherline. My favorite food is steak. My favorite color is blue. The best friend is Aaron Larson. His sixth grade teacher,

she had videotaped all of the kids and had them tell a little bit about yourself. What I want to be when I grew up is a football player. It was him just his face and sharing all of his favorites. My favorite game is Clue. My favorite thing to do most is watch football. And that video was taken 10 days before he was abducted. I'm finished.

I remember the night before. He was kind of crabby because he felt like he was a bad skater. So he was a little bit sensitive. And sometime that evening, he asked, he felt really bad. I'm sorry. I'm happy. I was a little bit. so crabby you want to play a game and I said no I thank you I appreciate you wanting to play I was in the midst of putting things away which is a

heartbreaker that's that's one of one of my worst mom moments I wish I wish I could take it back police want to get a recorded statement from Jacobs year old brother Trevor, who was with Jacob when he was taken. It was a really quiet, solemn drive down that road, now what was an ugly road. The bikes were still there the following morning, and it was traumatic. I could just feel Trevor stiffen. And then we went to the St. Joe Police Station. This is a taped interview.

Today's date is October 23rd, 19th. 89, the time right now is 0909 hours. Can you tell us how old are, please? I'm 10 years old. While you guys are riding your bikes, did some guy confront you? No. Some guy stopped, make you guys stop riding your bikes?

Oh, yeah. Can you tell us what this person initially said when you guys are riding by him? He said, stop, I have a gun, turn off the flashlight, go in the ditch, face other way. and he asked us all our ages. My heart just broke.

He's a 10-year-old kid who witnessed this horrific thing. His brother was stolen. He hadn't slept, and the fear, the sheer terror of that night. Where was his gun? He had his gun in his hand. Okay, what happened then? He told me to run as fast as I could to the woods. Right when he told me to run and grab Jacob.

Where the abduction occurred was at the end of a driveway, where the Rassier family resided. 34-year-old Dan Rassier lived on this farm with his parents who were out of town that weekend. My name is Dan Rassier, and in 1989, I was a band teacher. The night Jacob was taken, I was home alone, working on this collection, getting it up to date. Between 9 and 9.30, the dog is barking because the dog

is noticing a car coming down the hill. It was like a blue, maybe a darker blue, but smaller car, and turned around very quickly and I was gone. Shortly after that, I went to bed. I woke up when Smokey was barking, looked outside, and a whole bunch of people were up by the woodpile with flashlights. When I interviewed Trevor and Aaron, they said they didn't see

see a car so that we thought, well, we need to do a ground search. We first searched where the bicycles were found and started working our way through this little bit of a wooded area. Dan Rassier meets up with police and tells them he saw a dark vehicle quickly turn around in his driveway earlier that night. Talking to Dan, we thought, well, maybe there was a car.

About in this area, we saw some tire tracks, And then we saw some adult side footprints and smaller ones like child size footprints. They weren't going straight forward like this. They were to the side and almost like they were shuffling together. It didn't look like someone had just gone for a walk. It looked like somebody was pulling this kid along. And so that caused us to think that maybe these were

Jacob's footprints and the abductors footprints. The car would have stopped here. So as they're coming down the road on their scooter and bicycles, they would have ever saw that there was a car here. They found Jacob's footprint down here. Yeah, it was way down by that second pole. And the irony is it is such a peaceful, beautiful spot. It's like God's country, you know?

It is. The driveway where Jacob was taken is just a few miles from the interstate. So if he was in a car, Jacob and his kidnapper could be anywhere. I just had the sense that this guy took Jacob and took off. In my mind, he's halfway to Las Vegas or Chicago. He's got him. He's going somewhere.

My gut feeling was just the opposite. It's like he's so close, but we can't reach him. This man has put us behind back doors and made us restrict our children's every movement. You couldn't be outside. You locked your doors. You kept track of your kids differently. With the community and parents on edge,

the hunt for Jacob Wedderling quickly becomes one of the biggest search missions in Minnesota history. What can you tell us about the situation? In the days following Jacob's abduction, there was massive searches. Looking for any sign of Jacob or his kidnap. The ground search was divided into sectors. Beginning with an intensive check of the 36 square mile St. Joseph Township.

It was a big. We checked all the fields of swamps, like I said, in the abandoned buildings. Sheriff came up with horses. You're all volunteers, right? How come he came up? Just for the sake of help me. Help them find the little fella. In the days following the abduction, law enforcement conducted a neighborhood canvas.

We've covered everything that we can with the helicopter. I remember the helicopter sound. I still have PTSD over helicopters. Hundreds of law enforcement officers involved. A task force was formed with multiple. and multiple investigators. And I would come up with nothing. It was massive.

There were resources I didn't know about ham radio operators. Give me a quick status. There's a small pilots association and they were taking up little private planes. It doesn't make any difference what the costs are. We're just determined to do whatever is necessary. We've got to do an absolute thorough search out there.

The governor called and offered up the National Guard, which was really, really huge, because they searched, ground searched, about 30 miles worth of land. He's wondering what all the army guys were doing on here. We went and met Patty and Jerry almost immediately. What we promised them is that we would do everything, everything in our power to find Jacob.

You have to be patient. and she said, I can't be patient. This is my child, and we both understood. There was just people all the time. Like at their house, people bringing food. There's a hose right now. The media coming and going with the huge satellite trucks. What you're doing right now is a very, very integral part of that.

So we really appreciate you being here. They felt that if the story got out, there would be more people knowing about it, more people looking for him, that that would be their best chance of finding where he was. A friend of ours said, you know, you need to call the media. He had seen a program on 2020, approximately six weeks before Jacob's

abduction. 2020 with Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters. How getting the word out quickly was important in recovering that particular child. In desperation, Jeremiah's parents turned to the media doing seven to eight interviews a day. It wasn't too long before it started making national news. From ABC, this is World News Tonight. Last week, an 11-year-old boy named Jacob Wetterling

was kidnapped from the streets of St. Joseph, Minnesota. I remember being at the Minnesota Vikings game when they had Jacob's missing poster. Not just the Vikings are part of this football game, but it's a whole area. And this is a big, big thing, and everyone is a part of trying to find Jacob Wedderland. I just thought, well, this is it.

If they get Jacob on this particular broadcast for the Minnesota Vikings, they will absolutely find him. How hard was that for you to see his picture out there as a missing child? You're Jacob. That's devastating. At the beginning, there's no way your brain can really take all this in. It's crazy. First, it was Jerry who was front and center in the middle of all that media coverage. But after an appearance, on a current affair, the family decides to change, not its message, but its messenger. Tonight, our David Lee Miller reports on that terrible crime that has brought terror

to the country's heartland. It was total shock, total disbelief. People started turning in Jerry as a suspect. And it's like, they didn't like the way he looked on TV. He wasn't sad enough. He didn't cry. He wasn't angry. If it were me, I would respond this way.

It was ridiculous. I wasn't meeting their needs for what I should be as a searching dad. Thank you, Mom. He finally one day just said, they don't want to hear from me. They need to hear from you. So that was my call to step up. Jacob's all alone. This is not fair.

This is wrong. How tough was that on the marriage? Very tough. Marriage is tough on a good day. Your partner can be your support when you're going through a tough thing. But this is the thing we're both experiencing in real time together. So it was hard for us to really be there for each other in the way that we needed to be. You began to write letters.

I did. To Jacob. Why? It was my way of just connecting to him. If he came home, he came home. tomorrow I wanted him to know exactly what we had tried everything that we tried because I kept thinking he was wondering why did it take so long dear Jacob my heart hurts as days pass by without you I wrestle over the details again and again who could have done this

where are you Jacob I love you Jacob and I promise I will never stop searching for you Love mom. The idea that Jacob was taken while innocently riding his bicycle seemed to shake the nation to its core, leading police to stop at nothing to find him. Little do the wetterlings know that just miles away, investigators may have a link to Jacob's disappearance. Investigators became aware of a similar abduction that it occurred. There were so many similarities they thought this could be our guy. Quiet Minnesota town population under 3,000 has not been the same since Jacob Wetterling was abducted. A massive search has failed to turn up any trace of Jacob or his kidnapping.

That guy could be anywhere, and someone else could come and take you. Are you terrified that there's somebody out there who's going to try to snatch you or somebody else? Yeah, I would say I was traumatized. I slept on my parents' floor for how many months. We didn't know who had Jacob. That person still out there, obviously, and so there's always that fear of the what if. In my mind, the man that took Jacob

was always lurking around the corner. After Jacob Wetterling, everything changed, almost immediately how people parent their kids. I even asked the sheriff one time, was like, are our other kids safe? There were times when I just wanted to keep them all inside. But I spent a lot of my own energy trying to nudge them. The people of St. Joseph have rallied on Jacob's behalf, putting up posters, raising reward money, and calling attention to his plight.

There were white ribbons everywhere, and they wrote on him, you know, Jacob's Hope. At a church service, Jacob's classmates and families sang, listen. Listen, can you hear the sound? One of his favorite songs. It has become an anthem of hope. There was no evidence that Jacob was not alive, and that was the one thing Patty and the Wetterline family had to cling to.

From that first night on, we kept leaving our porch light on all the time. It was just a way to say, we're not stopping. You got to get home, Jake. His favorite show was McGiver. That was a man who escaped from all these outraged. from all these outrageous situations. And I thought if anybody could get away, it would be Jacob.

The FBI says it is the best lead they've had in nearly two months. For the first time, agents believed there is a connection between Jacob's abduction and another abduction earlier this year. Shortly after Jacob's abduction, investigators became aware of an incident that it occurred in Cold Spring, Minnesota.

Cold Spring is about 10 miles from St. Joseph, and in January of 1989, just Nine months before Jacob's kidnapping, another boy, 12-year-old Jared Shirol, is abducted. Jared had gone to the skating rink with several other friends, and after ice skating, they had decided to walk to this cafe in town, and they ordered some milkshakes and french fries. Jared just lived really close, so he decided he was just going to walk home. When he was nearing his neighborhood, a car had pulled up, and a man asked, if he was, He knew where the Kramer's lived, and Jared tried to help him with directions, and the man

got out and grabbed Jared and put him in the back seat of his car. This guy approached me from behind, said, I have a gun. I'm not afraid to use it. The abductor drove Jared to a remote site outside of Cold Spring, Minnesota, and assaulted him. I was dropped off and told to run, don't look back, or he would shoot. The statement match language used at the Wetterland abduction. He grabbed Jake up and then he told me to run as fast as I could into the woods or else he'd shoot.

He said almost the same words. I was just thinking that these cases are pretty similar. I was really concerned that it could be the same person. Were you thinking that there's a serial kidnapper on the loose? Possibly. And I had heard that. You know, sometimes there's a time period where they don't do it again for fear of being caught. Jared and his parents reported this right away, and they met with police and gave a very detailed police report.

He believed the vehicle was a blue vehicle, a blue interior. He described some sort of a police scanner or a handheld scanner in the front seat of the vehicle. Jared described his abductor as wearing a baseball cap, camouflage. clothing, a man with a gruff voice. Today the FBI released this composite, a sketch of the Cold Spring Abductor. It was drawn after investigators noticed the similarities between the abduction and Jacobs.

The abductor was a white man in his 40s or 50s. He had a deep, raspy voice, and he told the boy he had a gun. The characteristic that I remember of, like, our event is the voice. When Jared Trier was abducted and sexually assaulted, that was very, very rare. You'll fast forward to when Jacob Lerling was abducted. A stranger abduction in Minnesota, on a gravel road, probability that they were both related, absolutely. Police were looking for a child predator,

based on something you had said, what led them to think that? When he was coming out of the road there, he initially had reached over and had touched me. So I think that obviously led them to think that that was what his main goal was on the road. main goal was on the sexual predator side of things. Police always thought there were so many similarities between Jared's abduction and Jacob's abduction. They thought, okay, this could be our guy.

But as each anniversary went by year after year and then nothing would happen, you do start to think this case is never going to be solved. Every year we would get together like on the 22nd of October. We've reached another year of we haven't found him like we still don't know where he is. His presence is still real and heartfelt, but this graduation is still a somber one for classmates of Jacob Wetterling. A lot of people value a lot of things more because you realize I mean everything's not going to be here forever. I think Patty and Jerry would talk about they kind of lived vicariously like through our graduating class but it's also I'm sure it was a sad thing because

they wish Jacob was there doing it with us. Years go by. And then you hear the police are looking at somebody who's right down the street. They wired me. You would never have harmed Jacob. I only feel that I could have saved them. And then a blogger begins doing a little digging of her own. Are you thinking at this point, you probably got your guy?

Yes. We do you got a big break in the case. We have in our grasp the opportunity to find Jacob Wetterling. The Wetterling case is immense. It is a huge story. Looking for any sign of Jacob or his kidnapper. This whole row right here is Jacob Wetterling. And this is the Wetterling row.

This is a lot of evidence. This guy threat. He got into these kids with a gun, and he would often say, don't look back or I'll shoot. You started a real investigation. And that began an incredible force, a chiropractor, a plumber, a blogger, and a housewife. You see all of these victims in a close radius.

It has to be the same person. The guy came flying out of the, from behind the spruce trees. In the dark. Total darkness. Just took the wind out of everybody's like, oh, this could be the information that we've been looking for for all these years. Now you're about to find out.

Yeah. The real story. Wow. What did we just discover here? It's an unsolved mystery. Weeks go by, months go by. Involving this young, all-American boy. No news, no leads.

No one knew why. Year after year after year after year. And nobody really knew exactly how. All law enforcement really knew was that young Jacob Wetterling vanished on a moonless Minnesota night, leaving behind a footprint as the only clue to follow. When a story like that lingers, you just figure it's never going to be solved. Where are you, Jacob?

So it's 2004 and it's late January and I get a call. We invited Dan Rassier into the Stearns County Sheriff's Office and went over the information we had with him. Back in 1989, Dan Rassier was that music teacher living on a property near where the Wetterling crime happened. Rassier sees himself as a solid citizen, a good guy, but police aren't yet convinced. I was completely thinking I was going to help with something. It starts off kind of just, you know, well, what can I do? I remember him saying, well, that car that you saw, it's been accounted for. The car theory was that someone pulled into the Rassier Farm Driveway

and was waiting there and abducted Jacob Wetterling and left. That car theory is based on Rassier's eyewitness account. I went, well, great, you've got your guy. No, no. We've found the driver of the car, and he is innocent. He did not do this. That's bad news for Rassier. That's when the investigation seemed to really turn towards Dan Rassier as being the abductor.

It had been 15 years since Jacob Wetter was kidnapped right at the top of this driveway. And now the man living on this sprawling farm across from the abduction site is the focus of the investigation. And if you just want to look at a thing like this from a common sense perspective, it's got to be somebody you're thinking that knows the area, somebody who's comfortable in the area.

We were pretty, I don't know forceful is the word, but we were pretty somewhat aggressive with him. Maybe more than normal, just to see. see if we could get a different reaction out of him. And I don't think he liked that. I know he didn't like it. I want you to tell him where you put Jacob so I can go out and find him.

It's what will be done. Boy. You could be a person that's a psychopathic killer, or you could be someone that's the nicest guy in the world, or you could be someone in between. Basically, he's saying, you took Jacob on and on, that kind of thing. How'd you do it?

You knew they were coming by. You grabbed them. For instance, I said that you take Jacob Whartling, And instead of just saying no, which most people would be upset that you accused him, he put his hand up and he said, did I take Jacob Whirdling? Just kind of cocky remarks. He would never eliminate himself. He always kind of teased you with, it might be me type of comments.

If I did something like that, I would have to be nuts. And I'm trying to explain to him, but he's just so, he's so gone that I remember the interview. you just going not good, not good. And so on the way out, Pam Jensen says to me, well, you took that pretty well. I go, well, it's a joke. The whole thing is a joke. And then I left.

That must have been mind-boggling to think that police are looking at somebody who's right down the street. Were you suspicious? For years, I was curious about him. You were so determined to do anything to find your son that you were even willing to do you were even willing willing to wear a wire. I did. Wear a wire. I'd do anything. I just wanted to meet the man and have him look me in the eye and say he didn't do it. And so they did. They wired me.

So we put a wire on her and we knew where Rassier went to the gym. So we had her bump into him. Are you, Dan? I need to talk to you. We just sat in that lobby area and I asked a lot of questions. You know, Jacob was last seen on you. your property. Do you think Jacob could have been on your property? I needed you to look me in the eye and say you had nothing to do with Jacob's to sit here. I had nothing to do with this. You would never have harmed Jacob. I only feel that I, if I would have been more alert, he's all hindsight. I could have stopped and I could have saved him. Do you remember that conversation? Yes, we sat down for maybe 45 minutes. I told her my side of the

story. She wanted to get all the questions answered. Did you do this, Dan? Thank you, Dan. Well, let's talk again. Okay. Thank you. I told the FBI, as I'm tearing off the microphone, he's either innocent or a psychopath. He's really good at covering up or he didn't do it. By 2010, the investigation is right back where it began, on the rest of your property. Through time, we put together all the information we had, and we presented that information to a judge, and the judge felt there was sufficient probable cause to look on the farm. And I'm standing in front of a cornfield on the edge of the Razir family farm.

This was a big deal when they did the dig at the Rassier residents. Neighbors have been watching two. It's kind of scary. They did a pretty extensive search, even digging up some of his property. which clearly he was not happy with. The dig turns up tons of dirt and nothing else. But the damage has been done. Rassier is branded.

Rassier was known publicly as a person of interest in the Wetterling case. It wasn't like we stopped everything and started working on Dan Rassier. That's not the case at all. We worked everything we could think of. Dan Rassier isn't involved in the Wettering abduction at all. But it'll be years before investigators make that. clear. If Dan didn't do it, who did? That's when a blogger begins doing a little digging of her own. What are you thinking? I just thought, oh, this is big. This is, this has got to be the answer.

This is really big. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, joined thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.ca. Your playlist might get you through the workday, but have you ever wondered how your ancestors spent theirs? What work helped them build a life? How did they adapt as the world around them changed? With ancestry, You can search Select Historical Occupational Records for free for a limited time and discover the stories behind the jobs in your family tree.

You've got questions. We've got ancestors. Search free until August 31st. Visit Ancestry.ca for details. Terms apply. Tonight in Missouri, Sean Hornbeck is back home. A California kidnapping case has come to an astonishing end. Three missing women found alive together, a decade. later. Two decades go by, no sign of your son. Yet you still hold on to hope. I did. This is what kept me going. These were clippings of stories of other children who made it back. I would do anything to protect my children and all of these children.

Over the years, we watched Patty turn into an activist. I was working with the National Center for Missing Exploited Children and doing law enforcement. some trainings all over the country. People need to be educated about the dangers of those who violate children. Because of Jacob's case and Patty, the sex offender registration law was passed. Today, America warns, if you dare to pray on our children, the law will follow you wherever you go. She got very involved in trying to keep this from happening to other families. It wasn't just about Jacob, it was about all children.

The Waterland case is immense. It is so emotional, it is deep, and it was for me all consuming. I'm Joy Baker, and starting in 2010, I wrote a blog about the Jacob Waterland case. You started a real investigation. Yeah. I went to the local library, looked up all the old newspaper articles for from that time period. And I just started to lay it out.

Over the next few years, Joy gained a following online. But the Widerlings weren't aware of her until a chance encounter. In 2013, it was nearly 25 years since you'd lost Jacob. You meet a blogger. Yes. I was speaking at an event. And this woman came and introduced herself

and said she'd been blogging about Jacob. Patty is mildly freaking out about this person. And I just go to the block and I'm reading and say, wow, this is good stuff. We called her, I think, the next day and we had like at least a two-hour conversation of who are you and where do you hope to go. Then a turning point enjoys research.

She stumbles across a 1987 newspaper article from the nearby town of Painesville. I found this story about these five cases of young teenage boys who had been followed, assaulted. Also, very similar language. Like when they had been caught, he'd say, don't turn around or I'll blow your head off. And it was similar to the language

that the boys who were with Jacob had reported. The town of Painesville, where the incidents happened, is roughly 30 miles from where where Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped. Past Cold Spring, Minnesota, where that other boy, Jared Shirel, was abducted months earlier back in 1989. I shared his story on my blog,

and people were commenting, that same thing happened to my brother or my nephew or my son. Chris Bertelsen, who grew up in Painesville, told me about a string of frightening incidents that he and his friends had there back in 80s. Some of the incidents were reported to authorities back then. Early in 1987, two friends of mine had been molested. One, a masked man, grabbed him, groped him, and then another friend of mine had been molested near his home.

Was there a feeling that there was some guy out there who was praying on boys? It was the talk of everybody, at least of us boys. It just became kind of a culture. to watch out for this guy. All of a sudden, it's not safe to ride your bike. A time of fear. A lot of fear. Then in May of 1987, Chris had his own run-in with that man. He takes me back to the spot.

My friend and I were riding our bikes around this corner, and the guy came flying out from behind the spruce trees. In the dark? In total darkness. clothes lined my friend off the bike, and he stopped on the bike, and I stopped, and my friend yelled, you already got me. And the guy took off running, and I took off on my bike to call the police.

My friend, he said, I got his hat. In their scuffle, he grabbed his hat. We always kind of knew there were these pieces that were unanswered. Law enforcement investigate. But they never arrest anybody for the attacks on Chris or his friends. One of the consistent things with all of my friends was that he had a low, gravelly voice, a mumbly voice. More than two decades later, this string of incidents in Painesville may now shed new light on Jacob Wetterling's case. This is what happened to me. This is what happened to Jacob.

This could be the information that we've been looking for for all these years. This looks very much like small town America. Very much. I'll just quaint homes. There's a river that runs through it. It couldn't be more hometown America. Joy came here to Painesville after reading about those earlier assaults. The blogger tried to determine if the cases here could somehow be connected to the kidnapping of Jacob Wedderling

and that other boy in Cold Spring, Jarrett Shirel. So when you began looking into this kid, and you started to discover that there had been incidents of boys being either assaulted, molested here in Painesville, what areas did you find that were significant? A lot of them happened right here, right downtown, where kids were at their local hangout spot, the local pizza place. You're convinced that these incidents here in Painesville were no doubt connected to what happened to Jacob, and that perpetrator was probably the same person.

I really, really felt that Painesville was the answer. Law enforcement had actually talked to some of those Painesville boys after Jacob's abduction. When we found out about the Painesville incidents, we thought they were connected. We thought maybe the same person kidnapped Jared and Jacob. In January of 1990, the Painesville Police Chief had contacted the task force and indicated that Danny Heinrich might be considered a suspect in the Wetterling case. Heinrich was in his mid-20s at the time. He was a lifelong resident of Painesville and was a member of the Minnesota National Guard.

Danny Heinrich was one of the names who'd come up early. No prior arrest for sexual assault, no prior anything against children, couldn't hold a job for law and he had a troubled childhood. The physical description was nearly identical in all of the Painsville incidents. It was very similar to the Colesbury abduction. as well as Jacob Wetterling's abduction.

Gravely, raspy, static-filled voice was a specific description of the offender. And investigators did take a close look at Heinrich after Jared Shirel's kidnapping. In the case of Jared Shirel's kidnapping, Danny Heinrich was a suspect. They put him in a lineup. It was just a picture lineup.

So Jared picked two people that somewhat resembled the guy that had taken him, but that was as good as he could do. One of those was Heinrich, and words somewhat resembled in the precision of legal language isn't that he picked him out. With no other evidence, Heinrich is never charged. But after Jacob Wetterling is abducted, Heinrich's name surfaces once again. When he was interviewed, Heinrich denied knowing where he was on the day of the abduction of Jacob.

Heinrich denies any involvement, so authorities take a different tact. They search the home he's living in. They take his tennis shoes. They vacuumed his car, and they kept those fibers from the back of his car. They obtained his tires from his vehicle. One of the items tested was Jared Shirel's snowmobile suit, and it was determined that trace evidence on Jared's snowmobile suit. may have originated from the seat materials in a mercury topaz. That fiber could have come from the seed of any mercury topaz

manufactured around that time, not specific to Heinrich's mercury topaz. If a laboratory examiner can testify that that tire impression belong to that tire, that's evidence. If a laboratory examiner says that tire impression is consistent With that tire, that's not evidence.

Same thing with shoe impressions. Same thing with hairs and fibers. It's strong indications for an investigator to pursue it. It's not evidence. Investigators bring Heinrich in. We started talking to him, and before long, he said, I want to order. And, of course, once they say that, according to the rules, we cannot answer any further question.

They did not have enough physical evidence to charge. him, therefore they had to release him. Through the years of investigating, Danny Hyndrick always was one of our suspects. After different leads, we then decided that we'd go approach and see if we could talk to him, and we would knock on the door. The first time he shut the door on me, a couple years later, we came back the same story, had knocked on the door, he said, I got an attorney, I'm not talking to you. End of the story.

Did we think that was suspicious? Sure, but could we do anything about it? Every day I'm getting all these tips and leads from Painesville residents and I'm sending them all to Stearns County. But at some point I just felt like a bother. Joy may have discovered some additional information, but the fact that young boys were being either Chase, stocked, or groved in Painesville was not new to us. We just couldn't share the law enforcement file. what we had with her.

But since Jared was a victim, investigators would share information with him. Jared meets with Captain Jensen, and he calls me, and he is on fire. And he just said, Joy, there's more to this story. There's a hat that may have DNA on it. The Painsville incidents have something else in common. At the center of many of those crimes,

is that apartment where day. Danny Heinrich was living. Were you losing faith in law enforcement at this point? I was frustrated. I wanted the team back, fresh look. You gotta go back to the beginning. Today's date is 728, 2015, at times 8, 36 a.m. A fresh look leads investigators back to a very familiar homeowner.

There is no human or anything remains on this property. I guarantee 100%. And this is the Wetterling Room. This is a lot of evidence. It's a lot of evidence. And you said not even all of what you have. This is a small portion of the evidence that was collected through the years. It's been close to 25 years since Jacob's kidnapping.

And now an FBI team that's highly trained in child abductions is about to conduct a review of the entire wetterling case. My name is Chris Bokers. I am a retired FBI Special Agent, and I was a member of the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team that did a cold case review of the investigation. In October 1989, I was familiar with Mr. Wetterling's name because I had driven past a billboard. It caught my attention that his son was missing.

Case was impactful to me to the point that I decided that I wanted to to get into law enforcement to hopefully someday make a positive impact on this investigation. This whole row right here is Jacob Wetterling. I think it by far dwarfs any other case that we have for sure volume of evidence. In 2014, we needed to take a step back and have a review of the whole case itself. In doing the cold case review, Danny Heinrich was a very good suspect early in the investigation. There was some very compelling information there. Such as? Such as that some tires had been taken from his car, and these tires correspond in design and measurements

to the tire impressions that were taken from the gravel at the Rassier residence where the abduction had occurred. We also found that his shoes corresponded in design to the foot impressions that were taken from the scene. That's pretty stunning stuff. It was really good evidence, but because there's no NICs cuts that are individual to these shoes or these tires... You can't say it's exact. We can't say it's exact. One might think that, based on the substantial evidence that law enforcement had gathered against Danny Heinrich wasn't that enough.

But as a prosecutor, you have to evaluate a case not based on probable cause that it's likely, but proof beyond a reasonable doubt. And looking at the evidence they had at the time, it wasn't even close. When they started reviewing the case, they looked at Jared's case too. This would be clothing related to the abduction of the cold-sering boy. When Jared Shirol was assaulted, DNA, was not regularly used in criminal cases. Over the course of time and the investigation,

we had continued to repeatedly submit the items from the Cold Spring Boys' abduction for DNA analysis. And it was only finally in 2012 that we were able to come up with an unknown male DNA that was left on the clothing. Dennis Kern located a hair that had been saved on a slide at the FBI lab that was identified as Danny Heinrich. We did you got a big break in the case.

The Harris provided a DNA match to the previously unknown DNA that was collected from the Cold Spring Boyd's abduction. And that match was Danny Heinrich. And so they were able to conclusively show that Danny Heinrich was the person who kidnapped and assaulted Jared Shirel. Once we had a DNA match for the Colds

spring investigation. We sought a search warrant to go back to Heinrich's residence, where he now lived in Annandale, Minnesota. In that search warrant, law enforcement alleged Heinrich's involvement in eight Painesville incidents. The baseball cap is tested for DNA, and though 80% of the population was excluded, Danny Heinrich's DNA was not. In that search warrant, we were looking for human remains or any trophies that might have been kept. They were going to do search warrant for, on this suspect, Danny Heinrich. That was scary. Would they find anything?

Today's date is 728, 2015, at times 8, 36 a.m. Presently with Pam Jensen, Stern's County of Sheriff's, on Ken McDonnell, Minnesota, BCA. While other investigators were executing the search warrant, Captain Jensen and myself sat outside at the patio table with Danny Heinrich. Heinrich has no idea that he's being recorded. You know when we do a lot of these search runs we like to see what we have on internet.

They're going to find some things in the house that look pretty dam-bbing to me. You know, if you're worried about like pornography, a lot of people got pornography in their house. You're a single guy. Yes, I do have pornography. I'm not going to lie to you than I do. Tell us what you found when you got in. The house itself was very neat. He had two cats, but the house was well kept and organized.

There is no human or anything remains on this property. I guarantee 100%. As far as I know, before I bought the place, who knows what's in the root cell or underneath the cross? That I wouldn't know anything about, you know? Right. Nothing for Cain, but Jacob letterly. There's nothing here.

forever has done. Of course, we're trying to get a little information without making him upset with us. I asked him about Painsville. I never touched anybody, period. That's the God's true. I'll admit I got some damning in that house, but I never touched anybody.

Very quickly within the search, investigators were finding binders that contained child erotica, child pornography. We found numerous bins of child-sized clothing. clothing. We found wigs and handcuffs. We recovered 922 VHS tapes. A lot of the VHS tapes were of children's programming, where you had children actors on the shows. When we went through the tapes, investigators found hours of him at playgrounds, hours of him watching boys go by on their bikes. Very inappropriate. The search yields no evidence.

directly linking Heinrich to Jared, Jacob, or any of the Painesville incidents. But there was something else found that troubled investigators. He had tapes of news clippings from the Wetterling investigation. The Wetterling investigation. So he was obviously concerned about the Wetterling case. Correct. This very well could be Jacob Wetterling's abductor. What are you thinking?

A lot of it is thinking in your hands. What do we now need to do so that we do this properly? So we worked with the U.S. Attorney's Office to formulate a nexus to get federal charges for child pornography. Federal charges would carry more weight with more potential prison time, which might help elicit some confession in a Wetterlin case. So after nearly three decades, would Heinrich confess and would Jacob Wetterling finally be found? You don't know if he's dead or alive. Oh my goodness, this is it. Just took the wind out of everybody.

He's like, oh. Finally, we found him. Two in five Canadians will hear the words, You have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, joined thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family

to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcf walk.ca.ca. Your playlist might get you through the workday, but have you ever wondered how your ancestors spent theirs? What work helped them build a life? How did they adapt as the world around them changed?

With ancestry, you can search select historical occupational records for free for a limited time and discover the stories behind the jobs in your family tree. You've got questions. We've got questions. ancestors. Search free until August 31st. Visit Ancestry.ca for details. Terms apply. About three months after they searched Heinrich's home, investigators contact the Wetterlings to share their findings. Patty and I were called down to the law enforcement center. You could just feel an electric energy in the room.

We had made a PowerPoint which talked about the the Painsville incidents, the DNA match with Jared's case. And then we also went over some of the tire and shoe impressions with overlays. They had Danny's shoes, and then they had the imprint on the driveway, and they just, it was like a slow-moving movie where they put one on top of the other, and visually it was a match, visually. And they did the same thing with the tire. And they matched.

And they matched exactly. It was chilling. That whole presentation was absolutely chilling. But you don't know at this stage where Jacob is. You don't know if he's dead or alive. Correct. They warned us to not reveal to anybody what was going on because they wanted him arrested.

Good afternoon. Last night, FBI special agents working with the BCA, the Stearns County Sheriff's Office, and local police arrested Daniel James Heinrich. Twenty-six years, roughly, after the abduction, Danny Heinrich, is arrested on child pornography charges. We consider him to be a person of interest in the Wetterling abduction. It was really the first major development in the case, really since the day it happened. I couldn't charge him in Jared's abduction because statute of limitations had run out.

But they were hopeful that they were... could get him to talk. We do see Patty and Jerry Wetterling coming down their driveway. You can see they still have the porch light on all the time. Missing kids come home after long periods of time and I will still always always hope until we have our answers. After Danny Heinrich was arrested, Patty asked me to help write the book and so we were really focusing on that. We didn't know where Jacob was so we just kept writing We had no idea what the ending was going to be. Nearly a year after Heinrich's arrest, he's ready to make a deal.

Do you want justice or do you want answers? It's like, I want Jacob. Danny Heinrich would plead guilty to one count of child pornography in federal court and receive a 20-year sentence if he was able to show us remains or provide a credible confession. He would either tell where Jacob was. was and what happened or give some convincing evidence. And I was really troubled by that word. It's like, who does he have to convince?

He's already convinced all of you. He has to convince me. Her agreeing to this would give us the keys to unlock the door to finally find Jacob Waterlane. Where is Jacob? Now, Danny Heinrich, the suspect in the boy's kidnapping, has led law enforcement to this quiet stretch of farmland in Painesville.

Would they finally be able to bring Jacob home? We walked through that narrow strip of woods with him and eventually planted a few flags to show where the remains could have been. When investigation began at the scene, they found a piece of red material that was sticking out above ground. End up being Jacob's hockey jacket. Everybody just took a deep breath and just took the wind out of everybody's like, I cannot describe in words what it was like to all sun just feel like, oh my goodness. I mean, this is it. We get this call saying that they had found Jacob's jacket.

Your blood runs cold. It's like everything inside is screaming, no. And we're driving up. It's a peaceful farm. We see the sheriff and Captain Panne. Jensen and they just come up and give us a hug and raise me in tears. Why did you walk away? Well it's been a while since I thought about this case and when it found it was very surreal

we realized that there was no more Jacob Hope. It was incredibly sad but at the same moment there was something peaceful. Jacob was at peace. Jerry, for you? For you? Words couldn't do anything at that point. Finally, we found him. Jerry and I, you know, he drove to some little neighborhood on a side street and pulled over and said,

we have to call the kids. And that was the worst call in my life. Among Jacob's remains, investigators also find his life. also find his number 11 soccer jersey. Sheriff would tell us what Danny said happened that night. Heinrich said that he fired once. Just wants to go home. I can't imagine like the fear.

A Minnesota man confessing in chilling detail about abducting and killing 11-year-old Jacob Wetterly in 1989. His confession coming days after he led authorities to the boys' remains as part of a plea deal. After obtaining Heinrich's confession, law enforcement then share the painful details with the Watterlings. The sheriff would tell us what they found out, what Danny said happened that night. Heinrich said that he was in the St. Joseph area that Sunday night,

and he saw the three boys going towards a convenience store, and he drove to the dirt driveway, and he waited for them. He said that he walked Jacob back to his car, and he handcuffed Jacob, and that Jacob asked, what did I do wrong? He did nothing wrong. You know, we're all sobbing, and it's like, stop, Sheriff, can you not hear us? You know, stop. He drove Jacob to the edge of Painesville and got him out of the car and assaulted him. Jacob said he was cold, and that just...

just that really stuck with me. He didn't have any clothes on. He's a parent. It's just heartbreaking. Jacob said that he wanted to go home and started to cry. Just wants to go home. And was doing everything he asked him to do and just wanted to go home.

And I can't imagine, like, the fear. Just let him go home. And that's when he took out a gun that he had in his pocket. And he, he. fired once and Jacob didn't fall down and he pulled the trigger again. Why did he have to kill him? Why? Two shots.

It was just too much. Too much. He had not killed anybody as far as you know. Why did he kill Jacob? During the interview, he said that he had seen some red lights of a police vehicle going past and he said that that contributed to a, his panic and may have influenced his decision to shoot Jacob. He went home for some period of time, came back,

and took Jacob and took his remains and buried them. Approximately a year later, he went back to the scene and he noticed a little part of the red jacket was sticking up. At that point, he determined that he needed to move Jacob, basically walked kitty corner across the state highway into a farm field, and that's where Jacob remained until... He told us about the location. Finally, we know.

Danny Heinrich is the confessed murderer of Jacob Weddling. And for that, he will spend the next 20 years in prison. I want to say, Jacob, I'm so sorry. It's incredibly painful to know his last days, last hours, last minutes. I also want to say one huge shout out to Jared and joy. Jared had the courage to stand up and say this happened to me. As part of the plea deal, Heinrich also admitted in court to Jared's abduction and assault. In the case of the Painsville victims, we believe them.

I hope they realized they were a very significant part of the wall of evidence that we had against Danny Heinrich to get us to the result that we eventually got. Heinrich was never charged in those eight Painsville incidents. Turns out the statute of limitations had run out and there was a lack of evidence. Heinrich denies any involvement to the police. It is Jacob Irvin-Werey. It is disheartening that it took so long for the wetterlings to finally find out what happened. Jacob spurred Patty into being a bulldog, you know,

for keeping kids safe. You know, it took 27 years, but she made a difference in those 27 years, and we are all better for it. You've written a book, Dear Jacob, what led you to want to put your pain out there and to relive it? Everybody has stuff going on in their lives, and they're trying to figure out how do you get through this?

Part of me wanted to write, to share, some of what kept us going if it could help another family. I think Jacob's legacy is showing that all kids are really awesome, and they need every bit of opportunity to flourish, to express themselves, and to fully do that in a safe way. How does work? Well, I'm tired, but. How would you describe where you are at this moment?

I am a believer in children, and I didn't want our own kids to live fearful, afraid of the world, afraid to go out and to play and to have fun. So we fought for the way the world that Jacob knew. I refused to let the man who took Jacob take away anything more. You can't have my marriage. You can't have my kids. You can't have the world of innocence and bullies. believing in dreams and going after your full potential.

That's really what I have fought for and I still will. It's the kids. A mom turning her pain into action. A mother's journey of hope. That is our program for tonight. Thanks for watching. I'm David Muir. And I'm Deborah Roberts from all of us here at 2020 and ABC News.

Good night. You've been listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault. Friday nights at 9 on ABC, you can also find all new broadcast episodes of 2020. Thanks for listening. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research.

Together, we can carry the fire and help create. a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcf walk.ca.ca.