Monument honoring Jacob Wetterling is dedicated, a quarter century later

ST. JOSEPH, MINN. – On a quiet and sunny morning in October 1999, Jerry Wetterling joined a small group of St. Joseph residents to plant 10 skinny trees — one for each year since his son, Jacob, went missing just a half-mile from the site.

Four of the trees were placed around a memorial boulder in each of the cardinal directions.

“That was really significant to us because we were looking everywhere, you know — north, south, east to west," Patty Wetterling, Jacob’s mother, said this week.

On Wednesday, almost 26 years since the trees were planted and nine years since the Wetterlings learned what happened to their son, they gathered at the site again to officially dedicate the memorial, which now has a plaque acknowledging “Jacob’s rock.”

“This boulder was a tribute to Jacob and also the hope that he was going to be found and brought back,” Jerry said to a crowd of about 50 people and a handful of dogs on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, unless you read the newspaper a couple of days around that time, you didn’t know anything about this. I figured 99 percent of people in the area never knew what that was.”

Jacob, 11, was abducted on Oct. 22, 1989, by a masked gunman along a rural road in St. Joseph, not far from the Wetterling’s home. He and his brother and his friend had ridden their bikes to a convenience store to rent a movie.

What happened and where he was remained a mystery for 27 years, until September 2016, when Annandale resident Danny Heinrich admitted to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing Jacob with two gunshots on the night he was taken. Heinrich, a former Paynesville resident, led investigators to a farm near Paynesville where Jacob’s remains were uncovered.

After Jacob was abducted, Patty and Jerry became national activists, helping organize the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center and speaking to hundreds of organizations across the nation that dealt with crimes against children. Patty then wrote a book, “Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope,” with blogger Joy Baker, who Patty says helped solve the case of her missing son.

They continue to share Jacob’s message of hope with a campaign called #11forJacob that emphasizes 11 characteristics Jacob admired and strived for: to be fair, kind, understanding, honest, thankful, a good sport, a good friend, joyful, generous, gentle with others and positive.

Those traits are listed on the granite memorial, along with a quote fitting for a park that’s popular with walkers: “Those we love don’t go away. They walk beside us every day.”

The memorial is at Klinefelter Park, which is named for St. Joseph police officer Brian Klinefelter, killed in the line of duty in 1996. It’s a 10-minute stroll from the Wetterling house. Jerry said he walks there a few times a week to meditate.

Former St. Joseph Mayor Steve Dehler, who was a state representative in 1999, spearheaded the memorial and tree-planting at the time. He coordinated the donations of trees — two of which were taken out by snowmobiles that first winter — and the boulder. The local merchant who donated the rock said his middle school-age kids picked it because it looked like a bean bag.

“Nice and comfy,” Patty said with a laugh. At the event, she encouraged people to still sit and climb on the rock, even though the plaque might give it a more somber feel.

The Wetterlings are also working on a local effort to build a community center in St. Joseph, with plans for one of the recreation areas to be named after Jacob.

To Patty, the continued efforts show how the St. Joseph community has come together over the years.

“It just really rallied,” she said. “They rallied around Brian Klinefelter. They rallied for us, you know, both times — when he was taken and when he was found. And all those 10-year, 20-year observations. People were there for us.

“Their hearts were big and their support was just unsurpassed.”