by Dennis Dalman
A two-hour nationally televised program about the Wetterling family of St. Joseph will be broadcast at 8 p.m. (Central time) Friday, Oct. 13 by ABC-TV’s “20/20” show, which focuses on crime cases.
The documentary precedes by four days the publication/release of Patty Wetterling’s book, a memoir entitled “Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope.” The book was co-written with Joy Baker, who will also appear in the TV program.
The memoir is about the long 27-year agony Patty and Jerry and their family endured after one of their sons, Jacob, 11, was abducted in St. Joseph. He was found deceased in 2016.
Starting last April, an ABC-TV camera crew and reporters made frequent visits to the Wetterling home and the St. Joseph area interviewing family members, investigators, suspects, witnesses and many more.
The book will be released Oct. 17. Advance reviews have already praised the memoir highly. Wetterling and Baker will do many book-signings in the next few weeks, including at 5 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 2 (Patty’s birthday) at Bad Habit Brewing St. Joseph; and at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4 at the Barnes & Noble book store in St. Cloud.
Jerry and Patty Wetterling, in their St. Joseph home, met many times with ABC-TV news co-anchor Deborah Roberts (left). The couple and many others will be the subject of a two-hour documentary about the Wetterlings and their long search for their son, Jacob, who was abducted in October, 1989. The “20/20” program will air at 8 p.m. (Central time), Friday, Oct. 13.
